BioMed Central versus PubMed Central versus BioMedNet

[Philip Davis <pmd8@cornell.edu>]

Dear Gordon,

There are some very similar sounding initiatives and products on the
market (BioMed Central, PubMed Central, BioMedNet).  Could you clarify for
Liblicense the relationship between you and the other products?

You claim that "BioMed Central is an independent online publishing house".  
Are you not owned and operated by CURRENT SCIENCE, a for-profit publisher.  
And if so, is there a reason for hiding or withholding this information?

Thanks for the clarification,
--Phil Davis


At 7/17/2001, Gordon Fletcher wrote:

>===============================================
>Press Release:  17th July 2001
>
>
>BIOMED CENTRAL TO DEPOSIT E-JOURNALS WITH THE BRITISH LIBRARY
>===============================================
>
>The British Library has agreed to work with the BioMed Central Group to
>explore the issues surrounding the creation and sustainability of a
>permanent electronic holding within the UK's National Archive of
>Publications for all the research articles published in the BioMed Central
>(www.biomedcentral.com) family of journals. This deposit will take effect
>as soon as the necessary system architecture is in place at the Library.
>
>Jan Velterop, Publisher of the BioMed Central Group, commented on this new
>development:
>
>'This deposit into the UK's National Archive of Publications is consistent
>with BioMed Central's policy of securing accessibility and permanent
>archiving of its publications - it will add to the confidence of the
>scientific community that their online papers are preserved for posterity
>with the same degree of care as print.'
>
>This National Archive will be another way in which the information
>published in the BioMed Central journals can be made available in the long
>term. Currently, all the research articles published are archived, without
>delay, at the PubMed Central site (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov) and
>are also indexed in PubMed.
>
>In addition to the above online archiving solutions, BioMed Central will
>also be making archival print versions of the BioMed Central journals.
>These will be available on demand for libraries that require a hard copy
>of the BioMed Central research articles.
>
>All these initiatives, combined with the policy of promoting
>self-archiving by authors, means that all research articles published on
>BioMed Central will be permanently accessible and searchable in multiple
>archives.
>
>BioMed Central 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.
>
>For further information about BioMed Central go to:
>http://www.biomedcentral.com, or contact:
>Gordon Fletcher, PhD
>e-mail: Gordon@biomedcentral.com,
>tel: +44 (0)20 7323 0323

Philip Davis, Life Sciences Bibliographer
Mann Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-7192 ;  (607) 255-0318 fax
pmd8@cornell.edu