UK Inquiry: Conclusions and Recommendations released today. BioMed Central's Reaction

[Natasha Robshaw <natasha@biomedcentral.com>]

As you may be aware, the UK House of Commons Science and Technology
Committee are publishing their report "Scientific Publications: Free for
all?", today (Tuesday 20th July). I am sending you BioMed Central's
response press release which I believe will be of interest to readers of
this list. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Natasha Robshaw
BioMed Central

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Press release
For immediate release 20 July 2004
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BioMed Central - The Open Access publisher
http://www.biomedcentral.com
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Contact: Gemma Bradley
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7631 9931
E-mail: press@biomedcentral.com
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Scientific Publications: Time for change

Changes in scientific publishing are "necessary as a matter of urgency"
and everyone should have free, open access to UK research findings. So
says the UK House of Commons Science & Technology Committee in their
report on scientific publishing, published today.

Vitek Tracz, Chairman of the Open Access publisher BioMed Central said:  
"We welcome this important and forward-looking report which marks the
beginning of a new era. Change is essential for science and will benefit
society."

Crucially, the report recommends that UK research funding bodies mandate
free access to all their research findings. "This will lead to a profound
change in the way that scientific literature is published, and validates
the author-pays 'Open Access' publishing model which we at BioMed Central
pioneered," Tracz remarked.

The Committee urge the UK Government to "act as a proponent for change"
and "lead by example".

Some UK funders have already shown great support for the Open Access
publishing model. By signing agreements with BioMed Central, JISC and NHS
England have made it possible for many UK researchers to publish free of
charge in Open Access journals.

The Committee recommends that UK Research Councils follow this lead and
make funds available to pay author charges. This would mean that all
publicly funded UK researchers would be able to make their research
findings Open Access, at no cost to themselves. "This support will help to
ensure the success of the author-pays model of publishing," said Tracz.

To improve access to research findings in the short term, the Committee
have called for all UK higher education institutions to "establish
institutional repositories on which their published output can be stored
and from which it can be read, free of charge, online". In addition, they
ask Research Councils to "mandate their funded researchers to deposit a
copy of all their articles in their institutional repository [...] as a
condition of their grant".

Natasha Robshaw, BioMed Central's Sales and Marketing manager said: "All
the research we publish is already immediately archived in the Open Access
repository, PubMed Central. As a service to authors, we will automatically
deposit research from UK researchers that is published in our journals in
these institutional repositories, once they are set up. This will take the
responsibility away from the researchers, with immediate benefit for
readers."

Access to scientific research is an international issue. The Committee's
conclusions have been published just as the US House of Representatives
has made a similar recommendation that research funded by National
Institutes for Health (NIH) should be freely available. Also, the European
Commission is currently conducting a study on scientific publications.

"This is the point of no return," said Tracz. "It is now time for the
publishing model to change."

 # # #

The report, entitled "Scientific Publications: Free for all?" is a result
of the UK House of Commons Science & Technology Committee's inquiry into
scientific publications that has investigated pricing, access and
availability issues. This can be read online at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/399/3990
2.htm

Further information about the inquiry is available on our inquiry web page
(http://www.biomedcentral.com/openaccess/inquiry/)

# # #

Press Office Contact:
Gemma Bradley
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7631 9931
E-mail: press@biomedcentral.com

About BioMed Central

BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com) is an independent online
publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge 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.