Kamran Abbasi, A hybrid for open access, BMJ, October 9, 2004. Excerpt: "Where does the BMJ stand on this issue that threatens the existence of many journals, particularly those that are published monthly or less frequently? We begin by charging for access to some of bmj.com in 2005. We also begin by making a distinction between material that is original research, where authors have added most of the value, and our remaining content, where we believe we have added most of the value --imaginatively called 'value added content.' Original research will remain free from the time of publication, and sent immediately to PubMed Central --as it is now. Value added content will be free for the first week following publication and then again after a year. bmj.com will still be free to people in the world's poorest countries, in line with the Health Inter Network for Research (HINARI) initiative. We will review these decisions next year, along with the subscription rate (see p 814). Additionally, we are researching authors' views on the 'author pays' model whereby authors pay a fee for all or some of the peer review, editing, and publication of their work. This fee --small compared with the cost of conducting research-- makes published research free to the end user. All this leads us to what we have begun calling the 'hybrid model' of scientific publishing, where authors might pay for peer review and publication of original research while libraries-- or readers-- pay for the value added content. We are not sure where all this will lead --the hybrid model may not work-- but we invite your views on this uncertain journey." Kamran Abbasi is the acting editor of BMJ. (Thanks to Charles W. Bailey, Jr.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 10/08/2004 06:58:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
