RE: Librarians, Publishing Behavior, & Open Access

["T Scott Plutchak" <tscott@uab.edu>]

Okay, I can't resist (although I've pointed this out before):  The Journal
of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) (formerly the Bulletin of the
Medical Library Association) has been open access via PubMed Central since
September 2001.  At present, every article, letter, editorial and feature
of every issue, back to volume 1, issue 1, July 1911, is available.  The
online version is generally up within a day or two of the hard copy
arriving on my desk.  (I invite you to take a look at our most recent
issue -- our Symposium on Expert Searching is particularly relevant to all
sectors of librarianship: 
<http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/tocrender.fcgi?iid=18108>)

Benefits?  Although difficult to quantify, I'd say we're seeing greatly
increased readership, a striking increase in manuscript submissions,
particularly from overseas, and vastly increased value of the older
material, since it is now so easy to get to.

Concerns?  Also difficult to quantify, but ad revenue for the journal is
down, as are non-member subscriptions.  Since production of the JMLA is
paid for by advertising revenue and non-member subscriptions this is a
matter of significant concern. (And is probably why I'm sympathetic to the
worries of our colleagues who run the publishing arms of the professional
societies).

Is it worth it?  Yes.  The decision to go open access was, of course, not
mine, as editor -- it was through the leadership and willingness to live
up to our professional values on the part of the Board of Directors and
the MLA headquarters staff who were willing to take this risk.  It's a
gamble, and we don't know how it's all going to play out.

I'll be analyzing some of this for a talk at the Allen Press Emerging
Trends Seminar in April
(https://timssnet.allenpress.com/ECOMAPSEMINAR2005//timssnet/common/tnt_
frontpage.cfm) and will probably report what I find in a future JMLA
editorial.

T. Scott Plutchak

Editor, Journal of the Medical Library Association

Director, Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences
University of Alabama at Birmingham
tscott@uab.edu