Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 1

BioMed Central

Improving Science Communication

throughOPEN ACCESS

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 2

To be useful,scientific results need to beused, read, cited, shared,

applied, extended, built-upon

So are they? So are they? So are they? So are they? So are they? So are they? So are they? So are they?

So are they? So are they? So are they? So are they? So are they?

For that, they must be accessible

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 3

For everybody in-between?

For the harvards?

For the have-nots?

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 4

have-nots

Harvards

AccessImpact

Financial barriers

After Les Carr, Southampton University

‘Twin Peaks’ problem

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 5

Integrated

The literature: as it should be

Available

After Les Carr, Southampton University

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 6

The literature: as it is for the harvards

After Les Carr, Southampton University

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 7

And for the have-nots

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 8

Rarely has an individual, group, even country, contributed to scientific knowledge in a vacuum. Almost invariably, new knowledge and insights are built upon vast bodies of pre-existing science, interlinked and intertwined like a fabric. Doesn’t this knowledge therefore belong to the world as its common and shared heritage, a kind of ‘scientosphere’ enveloping the globe?

Can that be right?

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 9

An individual or group copyright claim is therefore rarely justified. Instead, copyright should just be used to secure the integrity of research articles and the unambiguity of their ‘location’ in the fabric of the scientific literature.

What about copyright?

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 10

High prices? Prestige? Economic distortion?

Where lies the problem?

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 11

Would the world have much more access to science literature if prices were lower?

Yes, but still no universal access

High prices

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 12

Is prestige an impediment for have-nots to being noticed and have an impact?

Yes, but prestige is mostly built on reputations of quality, which is good

Prestige

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 13

Quote

“The Impact Factor of an article is often inversely proportional to its usefulness

in the field”

Researcher working on Malaria in sub-Saharan Africa

Prestige has limitations

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 14

Science publishing has costs. A sound economic principle is that there must be choice. Are the costs being paid at the point in the system where there is choice?

No, not at all

Economic distortion

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 15

Must be found in changing the economic models of science publishing

The BioMed Central model is based on payment at the point of choice: at input, resulting in true open access

Solutions

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 16

PublisherPublisher

Free Use

Manuscript

Today’s (soon yesterday’s) print-derived model:

Only those who can afford expensive subscriptions or

licences have access

Result:

Author transfers copyrightor exclusive publishing rights

©

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 17

PublisherPublisherManuscript

Tomorrow’s (today’s at BioMed Central) online-based model:

Everyone has accessAll use is fair use Result:

$Author pays small amount of money

or rather, institution pays on author’s behalf

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 18

Acquiring the rights to content, facilitating peer review, making web-ready, hosting, and embedding in the literature and then selling the content

BioMed Central re-defines publishing

Selling content Selling a service

Leaving the rights with the author, just facilitating peer review, making web-ready, hosting, and embedding in the literature, and making the content freely available in Open Access

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 19

1. The article is universally and freely accessible via the internet, in an easily readable format - and deposited immediately upon publication, without embargo, in at least one widely and internationally recognised open access repository (e.g. PubMed Central).

2. The author(s) or copyright owner(s) irrevocably grant(s) to any third party, in advance and in perpetuity, the right to use, reproduce or disseminate the article in its entirety or in part, in any format or medium, provided that no errors are introduced in the process, proper attribution of authorship and correct citation details are given, and that the bibliographic details are not changed. If the article is reproduced or disseminated only in part, this must be clearly and unequivocally indicated.

What is Open Access?

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 20

Open Access at BioMed Central

All research articles in any of the journals published by BioMed Central are available on line in open access as defined

Authors (their institutions) pay a small amount for ‘processing’ the article:

-organising peer-review, -formatting and coding in XML for rendering in

web-friendly HTML, -formatting in PDF for easy downloading and

printing, -linking and embedding in the literature via

PubMed, CrossRef, ISI and others, -depositing in secure archives like PubMed

Central and others, -hosting on the BioMed Central site

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 21

Authors-Vastly improved visibility

Users-No need to worry whether the library has the

journal

Libraries/Institutions-Lower cost: $500 at input vs. $3000-5000

aggregate publisher turnover per article.

Advantages of Open Access

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 22

Speed– Process entirely electronic– Publication immediate– Listed straight away in PubMed

Embedding in science literature– References linked via CrossRef– References tracked by ISI

Publicity– Press-releases for articles suitable for wider, lay audiences

Information– Author has full access to download statistics

Extra advantages at BioMed Central

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 23

Article Processing Charge (APC)– $500 per published article

Institutional Membership– Amount depends on the size of the biomedical research

staff and students at the institution; starts at $1500

Waivers– Automatic for authors from a member institution– Available on request for authors unable to pay, e.g. from

developing countries

Cost of Open Access at BioMed Central

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 24

Peer Review takes away that risk

All articles published in BioMed Central journals have been strictly peer-reviewed. Peer-reviewers do not know if the author will pay, the institution will pay, or if the charges will be waived. Payment is only required once the article is accepted.

Author pays? Institution pays?Risk of vanity publishing?

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 25

Biology journals

A full list can be found here:www.biomedcentral.com/browse/biology/

Medicine journals

A full list can be found here:www.biomedcentral.com/browse/medicine/

The BioMed Central journals

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 26

Open Access deserves support from the whole science community

Because to be useful, scientific results need to be used, read, cited,

shared, applied, extended, built-upon

For that, they need to be accessible

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 27

• Authors:– submit your articles to Open Access journals

• Users: – visit and cite Open Access journals

• Librarians:

– take up institutional membership

– add our URL to your intranet or web pages

• Funding bodies and tenure committees:– recognise Open Access research papers and the

‘payment-at-input’ model

• All:– Advocate Open Access

How can you support Open Access?

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 28

• Home page: www.biomedcentral.com

• Submissions: www.biomedcentral.com/info/publishing_adv.asp – Email Editorial Director Peter Newmark: peter@biomedcentral.com

• Institutional Membership: www.biomedcentral.com/info/instmembership.asp

– Email Membership Director Becky Fishman: becky@biomedcentral.com

• General Marketing: www.biomedcentral.com/libraries/– Email Marketing Director Natasha Robshaw: natasha@biomedcentral.com

• General Publishing: www.biomedcentral.com– Email Publisher Jan Velterop: jan@biomedcentral.com

Contacts @ BioMed Central

Jan Velterop, BioMed Central, ICSEP Chile, October 2002 29

www.biomedcentral.com

For Research Articles,All Use is Fair Use