After the flurry of concerned postings to various forums regarding the
availability in Bangladesh in 2011 of journal titles from a number key
publishers, I thought that readers might appreciate a brief summary of
the current state of play from my vantage point as a representative of
the International Association of STM Publishers (STM), one of the 13
main HINARI programme partners.
Of the five publishers mentioned in the original BMJ article at
http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.d196.full :-
* ELSEVIER have reinstated access
http://download.thelancet.com/flatcontentassets/pdfs/S0140673611600688.p
df
* AAAS have reinstated access
http://dgroups.org/ViewDiscussion.aspx?c=e95b885f-14b0-4452-a819-06cf188
ee6b0&i=6f928e6b-dae0-48b0-adaa-75539d227620
* Lippincott Williams and Wilkins have emailed me to confirm they
will be reinstating access
* SPRINGER have not distributed their online journals in
Bangladesh via HINARI for the last five years. Access in Bangladesh to
the Springer content is via INASP. Springer have posted an announcement
to this effect
http://www.springer.com/about+springer/media/pressreleases?SGWID=3D0-110
02-6-1067521-0.
* THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANIMAL SCIENCE: the inclusion of the
ASAS in the list of access excluders was incorrect - an error in the
HINARI administration system for which, on behalf of HINARI, I
apologise. ASAS's Journal of Animal Science continues to be available
throughout Bangladesh in 2011 as it has been in 2010.
The International Association of Scientific Technical and Medical
Publishers (STM) has for the past ten years been a key partner in the
HINARI programme. STM supports HINARI because we believe it is
the most effective way of maximising access to readers within the
currently predominant business model that recovers publication costs via
a charge on readers or their institutions. At the launch of HINARI in
2002, 400 institutions in 68 of the world's poorest countries gained
access to up to 1500 medical research journals to which they previously
did not have access. Today these figures are 4600, 105, and 7400
respectively.
Whatever the business model involved in recovering the costs of
publishing peer-reviewed research journals, it seems logical and fair
that arrangements should be put in place that allow these costs to be
waived for beneficiaries in the world's least developed economies. The
open access business model frequently recovers publication costs from
authors or their research funders and it is reassuring to hear from
postings to various forums over the last couple of weeks that the major
players in this space also have arrangements for their charges to be
waived for authors in the world's least developed economies.
=======================================
Richard Gedye
Director of Publishing Outreach Programmes
STM
Prama House
267 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 7HT
Mobile: +44 7979 953124
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.stm-assoc.org
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