Today, Pfizer announced an agreement with BioMed Central to launch an open access waiver fund which will support automatic waivers of publication fees for authors from low-income countries.
Thanks to the open access waiver fund, researchers in low-income countries can publish research articles in BioMed Central's open access journals without the need to pay a publication fee.
Speaking of the agreement Dr Jack Watters, Vice President, Pfizer External Medical Affairs said "Pfizer's support for open access publishing is driven by a recognition of the wide benefits of global access to the latest research results, and the crucial role that open access journals can play in the communication of those results. In addition, we feel that it is critically important that the benefits of scientific publication are extended to all scientists who do quality research, and that providing this access will promote much-needed recognition of research conducted in developing countries.
Matthew Cockerill, BioMed Central's Managing Director, commented: "Researchers working in low-income countries have been strong supporters of open access publishing. Many of BioMed Central's most successful journals such as Malaria Journal and BMC Public Health, focus on issues of strong relevance to developing countries and publish many articles from these countries. BioMed Central's policy of automatic waivers for low-income countries ensures that researchers based in these countries will face no financial barrier to publishing and sharing their work in a way that makes it globally accessible."
Notes to Editors:
1. BioMed Central's Open Access Waiver Fund supports automatic waivers for authors from more than 90 countries classified as low-income or low-middle income by the World Bank. For more information and a full list of countries, see: http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/authors/apcfaq#waivers
2. BioMed Central (www.biomedcentral.com) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.