EDP Sciences, in collaboration with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is delighted to announce the introduction of links between Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) articles and corresponding ESO datasets. This initiative establishes A&A as the first major astronomy journal to feature such links, significantly enhancing research discoverability and facilitating a more comprehensive reader experience.

The ESO Telescope Bibliography (ESO telbib), a longstanding resource developed and curated by the ESO Library, Documentation and Information Services (LDIS) department, references articles published in the major astronomy journals that utilize ESO data. Now, the A&A publication platform, maintained by EDP Sciences, integrates direct links to the associated datasets at ESO telbib by leveraging its API. This development offers researchers approximately 8000 links to ESO data, enabling them to explore and analyze the linked data seamlessly.

By simply following the "ESO data at telbib"* links on the A&A publishing platform, readers can easily access the corresponding datasets. This integration expands upon EDP Sciences' existing provision of direct links to essential astronomy databases, including the NASA ADS Abstract Service and the CDS (Strasbourg astronomical Data Center).

“We are delighted that A&A, with its close ties to ESO, has become the first journal to feature links between data and articles," said Uta Grothkopf, Head of the LDIS department at ESO. "The ESO Telescope Bibliography aims to interconnect resources from proposals to papers and from papers to data in the archive. By linking papers back to the associated ESO data, A&A is opening up new avenues for discovery, enabling seamless access to the valuable data connections provided by the ESO Library."

“This project, supported by the A&A Board of Directors, is a result of the collaborative efforts between EDP Sciences and ESO, underscoring A&A’s commitment to open science and advancing the field of astronomy and astrophysics," commented Arūnas Kučinskas, Chairperson of the A&A Board of Directors. Anne Ruimy, Senior Publisher at EDP Sciences, commented, "We are proud to have worked alongside the ESO Library to bring this project to realization, and we hope to extend this initiative to additional databases in the coming months, fostering a more interconnected and data-driven research landscape."

The implementation of these direct links significantly improves the findability of ESO data for A&A readers, aligning with the FAIR guiding principles of scientific data management. A&A's commitment to integrating ESO datasets not only benefits the scientific community but also serves as an inspiration for other journals and data repositories to follow suit.

* See the following example of A&A article featuring a link to the corresponding observations by the MUSE instrument at the Paranal Observatory (Chile).

About EDP Sciences

EDP Sciences was established in 1920 by a prestigious academic community of French learned societies seeking to inspire, innovate and inform others by sharing their knowledge. Members of this community included eminent scientists like Marie Curie, Paul Langevin and Louis de Broglie. Today, EDP Sciences publishes high-quality scientific journals, conferences proceeding, books and magazines in a broad range of scientific, technical, and medical disciplines.

About ESO

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) enables scientists worldwide to discover the secrets of the Universe for the benefit of all. We design, build and operate world-class observatories on the ground — which astronomers use to tackle exciting questions and spread the fascination of astronomy — and promote international collaboration for astronomy. Established as an intergovernmental organisation in 1962, today ESO is supported by 16 Member States (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), along with the host state of Chile and with Australia as a Strategic Partner. ESO’s headquarters and its visitor centre and planetarium, the ESO Supernova, are located close to Munich in Germany, while the Chilean Atacama Desert, a marvellous place with unique conditions to observe the sky, hosts our telescopes. ESO operates three observing sites: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its Very Large Telescope Interferometer, as well as survey telescopes such as VISTA. Also at Paranal ESO will host and operate the Cherenkov Telescope Array South, the world’s largest and most sensitive gamma-ray observatory. Together with international partners, ESO operates ALMA on Chajnantor, a facility that observes the skies in the millimetre and submillimetre range. At Cerro Armazones, near Paranal, we are building “the world’s biggest eye on the sky” — ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope. From our offices in Santiago, Chile we support our operations in the country and engage with Chilean partners and society.