A new web initiative for biomedical researchers was announced today by one of the key players in the web publishing revolution. BioMed Central (www.biomedcentral.com) will give researchers the tools they need to publish their data quickly and easily on the web. 'The publishing model of BioMed Central is different from the current forms of science publishing,' stated Vitek Tracz, Chairman of the Current Science Group. 'At present, scientific publishers make a large proportion of their revenue from highly-priced 'archival' journals, which are bought almost exclusively by libraries. The research reports themselves are highly-formalized articles whose form reflects the limits of the printed-paper format. We believe that new technologies can make the publishing process so much more efficient and flexible in both format and economic terms. BioMed Central believes that research reports should:
1. be published electronically
2. take advantage of technology to allow more flexible
presentation of scientific data thereby improving accessibility and use and
3. be available to all - globally, free and without
barriers to access'
BioMed Central is currently embarking upon a period of intense discussion with the scientific community to better understand its needs and requirements. From May 2000 BMC will:
* provide authors with the most effective method of disseminating their work by providing specially-designed aids to submission
* use web technologies to speed up the peer review process so that it will take days rather than months
* make all articles published through BMC available immediately and in full, through the PubMed Central research archive
* allow groups of researchers to publish their own niche journals online, servicing a need that would not be commercially sustainable in traditional print-based publishing
* publish submitted research provided it has been carried out according to accepted scientific criteria, from the pharmaceutical trial to the most fundamental biophysical research
'This is about putting tools into the hands of scientists which will enable them to publish their research,' comments Dr Matt Cockerill, BMC Technology Director. 'With the technology now available, we can speed up the process of publication and make it much more efficient. What we want to do now is get input from researchers into what they would like to see in this service. BioMed Central will put the needs of the author and reader back at the forefront of science publishing'.
BioMed Central is currently under development. It will launch in May. Authors and groups of researchers who would like more information on how to use BioMed Central should email BioMed Central at info@biomedcentral.com
Note to editors
BioMed Central is part of the Current Science Group of companies that also
includes Current Controlled Trials Ltd, Current Drugs Ltd, Current Medicine
Inc., Current Science Ltd, Science Press Ltd and Praxis Press Inc. The group
has corporate offices in London, New York, Philadelphia, and Tokyo. The
Current Science Group has been responsible for the creation of some of the
leading brands in biomedical research literature including Current Biology,
the Current Opinions series and the world's largest scientific web portal,
BioMedNet.
PubMed Central is the barrier-free NIH repository for peer-reviewed primary research reports in the life sciences. PubMed Central has been the source of some controversy within the scientific publishing world as it aims to redefine the economic rules of the industry. It was proposed last spring by Harold Varmus, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health, and his colleagues. Currently under development, PubMed Central will begin accepting journal articles in January 2000.
Web links
www.current-science-group.com
http://www.biomedcentral.com
pubmedcentral.nih.gov