Two questions.
I believe Current Science is now part of the Reed Elsevier group. Am I right?
It says below that the services of BioMed Central will be free of charge.
How will it cover its costs?
Fytton Rowland.
At 01:11 PM 1/24/00 +0000, you wrote:
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 12:51:48 +0000
>From: John Peel <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Info <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: BioMed Central: Freedom of Information for the Science Community
>
>BioMed Central - Freedom of Information for the Science Community
>
>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.
>
>As of 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
>
> participate in a parallel pre-print/e-print archive that will be
> closely integrated with the proposed PubMed Express e-print
> archive.
>
>"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 [log in to unmask]
>
>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
>www.biomedcentral.com
><http://pubmedcentral.nih.gov>
**********************************************************
Fytton Rowland, M.A., Ph.D., F.I.Inf.Sc., Lecturer,
Deputy Director of Undergraduate Programmes and
Programme Tutor for Publishing with English,
Department of Information Science,
Loughborough University,
Loughborough, Leics LE11 3TU, UK.
Phone +44 (0) 1509 223039 Fax +44 (0) 1509 223053
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://info.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ls/staff/frowland.html
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