Top physics labs sign up to open access with PhysMath Central

[<Charlotte.Webber@biomedcentral.com>]

*Apologies for cross-posting*

13 December, 2007

Top physics laboratories sign up to open access with PhysMath
Central

Open Access gains further momentum with commitments from CERN &
DESY to cover article-processing charges

PhysMath Central, the Open Access publisher for Physics,
Mathematics and Computer Science, today announced membership
agreements with the CERN and DESY high-energy physics
laboratories.  Under these agreements the organizations will
centrally cover article-processing charges for all research
published by their investigators in the peer-reviewed open access
journal, PMC Physics A.

PMC Physics A is edited by professor Ken Peach of University of
Oxford and Royal Holloway and was launched in October 2007. All
articles published in the journal are made immediately and freely
available on the web in their final published form and are
indexed by speciality databases such as SPIRES.

Jens Vigen, CERN head librarian commented "This membership
program is an important, intermediate, step towards the SCOAP3
publishing model, where high-energy physics literature will be
open access and article processing costs borne centrally in a
transparent way for authors". Salvatore Mele, SCOAP3 project
leader, echoing Vigen's views, stated "The SCOAP3 consortium will
be open to all high-quality peer-reviewed journals, including
emerging publishing outlets as well as established titles".

Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Research Director at DESY, is also optimistic
about the future. "We at DESY have long been active supporters of
open access and welcome this new OA journal. This is another
important step in removing access barriers to knowledge about
high-energy physics experiments and theories. Increased choice
and diversity is a benefit to all, leading to a healthy and
dynamic market in academic publishing in particle physics, in
line with the spirit of SCOAP3."

PhysMath Central's Christopher Leonard commented, "We are
exceptionally pleased to welcome these major institutions on
board.  This reinforces CERN and DESY's commitment to supporting
open access publication of the research from their laboratories.
Central funding for article processing charges makes life much
simpler for authors, and so accelerates the take up of open
access. "

Media Contact
Charlotte Webber
Press Office, BioMed Central
Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7631 9980
Email: press@biomedcentral.com