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Press Release:  29th August 2001
For Immediate Release

Contact: Dr Gordon Fletcher
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7323 0323
Fax: +44 (0)20 7580 1938
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Website: http://www.biomedcentral.com
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BIOMED CENTRAL ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF JOURNALS
IN A NEW PUBLISHING INITIATIVE

Today BioMed Central announces the first group of
research journals to be launched in a new
publishing initiative. This initiative is designed
to allow groups of researchers to publish online
journals representing their community and to offer
free access to the research articles within these
new journals. The journals will use BioMed
Central's established publishing infrastructure,
comprising an online submission system, electronic
tools for peer-review, and the ability to publish
accepted articles in both PDF and HTML formats.

The peer-reviewed research articles in these
journals will be indexed in the National Library
of Medicine's bibliographic database, PubMed
(widely used by researchers, clinicians and the
general public) and deposited without delay in
PubMed Central, the electronic repository of
complete publications.

The first 12 journals to be published cover a wide
range of research areas in biology and medicine -
Cancer Cell International, Cardiovascular
Diabetology, Annals of General Hospital
Psychiatry, Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease,
Microbial Cell Factories, Natural Negatives, The
Malaria Journal, Filarial Infections - Diseases
and their Control, The Nutrition Journal, Proteome
Science, International Journal of Equity in
Health, Directed Evolution.

Harvey Shoolman, Commissioning Director says,

"This is an exciting development in scientific
journal publishing. These 12 journals are the
first of many that we will be launching in
response to the enthusiastic demand for this
service. Essentially we are trying to empower
focussed research groups wherever they may be. We
want to respond to their needs and encourage them
to advance their field and publish their results
within a framework that nourishes and incubates
the journal without being constrained by the
conventional publisher's concern for subscription
revenues."

Denys Wheatley, editor on Cancer Cell
International, one of the 12 new journals to be
published by BioMed Central, states the advantages
he sees in publishing with BioMed Central,

"Some of the more obvious benefits are: papers can
be published as they arise, peer reviewing will be
done electronically speeding up this practice, the
time from submission to on-line publication can be
less than 50 days, images will be publishable at
no cost at the resolution required and the problem
of reprints and their cost will not arise... What
more can you expect or want?"

BioMed Central, which already publishers over 60
journals in Biology and Medicine, expects over a
hundred new journals to be added over the coming
months. All original research articles published
by BioMed Central are freely accessible without
restriction.

For further information on these new journals
visit:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/newjournals.asp
For further information on journal publishing with
BioMed Central visit:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/startyourown.asp

BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com) is
an independent online publishing house committed
to providing immediate free access to the
peer-reviewed biological and medical research it
publishes. This commitment is based on the view
that open access to research is essential to the
rapid and efficient communication of science. In
addition to open-access original research, BioMed
Central also publishes reviews and other
subscription-based content.