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Open access to peer reviewed research:
freeing the literature
Fiona GodleeEditorial Director (Medicine)
BioMed Centralwww.biomedcentral.com
Open access….
• What do we mean by the current publishing model?
• What’s wrong with it?
• What are the alternatives?
Some fundamental questions
• Who owns science?
• What are the aims of scientific communication?
• How can these best be realised in the age of electronic communication?
• How should the scientific community cover the costs of quality control?
Open access…
• What do we mean by the current publishing model?
• What’s wrong with it?
• What are the alternatives?
Open access…
• What do we mean by the current publishing model?
• What’s wrong with it?
• What are the alternatives?
What’s wrong?
• High prices no longer reflect costs
• High prices limit access
• Fragments science
• Inefficient
• Slow
• Impact factors
The trouble with impact factors
• Based on journals not articles
• Not good for applied sciences
• Not good for small fields
Open access….
• What do we mean by the current publishing model?
• What’s wrong with it?
• What are the alternatives?
…Open access
• Dispense with subscriptions, and the things that support subscription revenues (copyright, access controls etc)
• Find new sources of revenue to pay for quality control and dissemination
Non-peer reviewed research
Centralised peer review performed by PubMed Central
Peer reviewed articles from journals
PubMed Central - full text repository of peer reviewed research
Non-peer reviewed research
Centralised peer review performed by PubMed Central
• Open access • Fully searchable and retrievable in PubMed
• Securely and permanently archived
• Copyright remains with authors• Fully peer reviewed
Original research
Peer review
Decisions based on validity not “relevance”
Peer review
Decisions based on validity not relevance
Open, with signed comments posted
Journals published by BMc
On line only
(Core” BMc journals)
•BMc Neurology
•BMc Gastroenterology
•etc
Print/on line
Genome Biology
Arthritis Research
Critical Care
CCT in CVM“Niche” journals
Number of articles submitted to BMC each month: Aug 2000 – Mar 2001
Number of articles accepted by BMC each month : Aug 2000 – Mar 2001
Overall av 53 days (11/21-193)
Medicine av 68 days (22-125)
Biology av 49 days (11/21-193)
Time from submission to publication
Can be seen by anyone in the world
Indexed in PubMed
Available on PubMed Central
On line submission
Open peer review
Rapid publication
Extensive promotion
Opportunities to update
Advantages
New
On line only
Disadvantages
What are BMC’s alternative sources of revenue?
Now– Advertising
Planned – Services to authors
and users – Author charges
Author charges
• Shift cost of quality control from user to author• Save money (~$500 vs ~$5000 per published
paper)• Create direct relation between service and cost• Are subject to normal market forces• If used to fund open access, author charges:
– fulfil the responsibility of researchers and funders to disseminate results of scientific research
– Re-enfranchise the disenfranchised
What can librarians do to promote open access?
• Get involved with SPARC
• Link your website to BioMed Central – Contact Becky Fishman for information (
• Talk to your colleagues and faculty
• Be radical
