Transcript Committed to making the world’s scientific and medical literature a public resource www.plos.org.

Committed to making the world’s
scientific and medical literature
a public resource
www.plos.org
Launching an
Open Access Journal
Helen J. Doyle, Ph.D.
Director of Development &
Strategic Alliances
Public Library of Science
San Francisco, California USA
JISC / CNI Conference
July 8, 2004
Brighton, UK
www.plos.org
What is the Public Library of
Science (PLoS)?
“A not-for-profit organization of
scientists committed to making
the world’s scientific and medical
literature a public resource”
Based in San Francisco, California, USA, with
an editorial office in Cambridge, UK
www.plos.org
How does the Public Library of
Science achieve its mission?
• By driving change in traditional
scholarly publishing model to openaccess
• By generating tools for mining and
analyzing the scientific literature
• By making the literature both
accessible and comprehensible to
non-specialist readers
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The Past: A Scientific
Publisher’s mission
4 November 1869
Nature’s Mission statement
“First, to place before the general public the grand results of
Scientific work and Scientific discovery; and to urge the
claims of Science to a more general recognition in
Education and daily life.
Secondly, to aid scientific men themselves, by giving early
information of all advances made in any branch of natural
knowledge throughout the world, and by affording them
an opportunity of discussing the various scientific
questions which arise from time to time”
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Does the traditional subscriptionbased model serve science and
medicine?
• Most potential audiences have no access to
primary literature
• Economics are based on old print and paper
system
• Limited connectivity and searchability
• Copyright restrictions limit uses and
dissemination
Science and medicine can advance more
quickly if information is freely available.
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What is open access publishing?
• Free and unrestricted online access to the
research literature and databases
• Users are licensed to download, print, copy,
redistribute, and use
• Author retains copyright and the right to be
acknowledged
• Papers are deposited in a public database
that allows sophisticated searches (such as
PubMedCentral)
(see Bethesda Principles, April 2003)
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Why is open access important?
• Maximum impact for authors
access to the largest possible audience
• New ways to access and use
literature
full-text searching and mining
• Greatly expanded access to research
for scientists, educators, physicians, the public
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The Traditional Publishing System
Money Flow
Researcher
Subscriptions/Site Licenses/ $
Pay-per-View
Publisher
Page charges/Color fees/
Reprints
$
$
Agent
Information
Flow via Tolls
$
Library
Reader
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The Open Access System
One-time
publication
charge
Researcher
$
Publisher
Library
Information
flow
Reader
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Transition state economics
Subscriptionbased
Open access
?
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Catalysts for change
• Research Funding Agencies –
governments, foundations, industry
• Publishers – open access journals
and hybrid journals
• Advocacy and Policy Organizations
• Knowledge Managers – libraries,
universities, government agencies
• Authors, Readers, and Users –
scientists, educators, citizens
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Editorial aims and scope
• The best life science
research
from molecules to
ecosystems
• Outstanding service
to authors
editorial board working
with professional editors
from start to end
• Accessibility and
relevance
synopses, essays, and
commentary in magazine
section
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Myths and Misconceptions about
Open Access Journals
• Quality
stringent peer review
• Viability
new business model
• Fairness
fee waivers
• Impact
challenge for any new journal
• Free = Open
open access allows less restricted use
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Myth 1: “Quality won’t be
maintained.”
Answer:
There is nothing intrinsic to open
access that changes the peer-review
process. Open access journals are
committed to stringent peer review.
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Myth 2: “The Open Access
business model is not
viable.”
Answer:
Open access publishing takes
advantages of new technologies and
the economics of electronic
publishing to be sustainable.
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Myth 3: “Open access will be
unfair to those who
can’t pay publication
charges.”
Answer:
Fee waiver policies and diverse
funding sources ensure fairness.
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Myth 4: “Open access journals
have no impact factor.”
Answer:
Any new journal has no impact
factor. Open access journals can
provide new ways to measure
impact.
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Myth 5: “Free access is the same
as open access.”
Answer:
Many open access publishers use a
copyright license that allows the
article to be freely reused and
redistributed, not just read for free,
while the author retains copyright
and the right to be acknowledged for
the original work.
(see Creative Commons Attribution License at
creativecommons.org)
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Developing a sustainable
operation
• Publish flagship journals
journal growth, author charge, advertising,
sponsorship, costs
• Increase volume
new titles, database style journals
• Catalyze change
financial, political, cultural
• Transitional measures
membership plans, grants, partnerships
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UK's Joint Informations Systems Committee
(JISC)- JISC's Open Access Publishing Initiative
will fund 50% of the publication charge for all
authors from UK higher and further education
institutions, for the first 40 papers accepted for
publication. More information can be found in the
press release. Learn about other JISC programs
and funding opportunities to improve scholarly
communication.
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www.plos.org
Launching in autumn 2004
Call for Papers
• Excellent research,
rigorously peer-reviewed
• Expert commentary,
in-depth analysis,
global outlook
• Outstanding international
editorial board
• Accessible via PubMed
from issue one
www.plosmedicine.org
www.plos.org
The Open Access Future
• Open access becomes the preferred mode of
publishing
• Multiple open access publishing models
thrive in a competitive market
• Innovative new tools and resources take full
advantage of open access literature
• Full potential of scientific and medical
creativity and productivity unleashed
• Public gains full access to research
discoveries supported by public funds
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Committed to making the world’s
scientific and medical literature
a public resource
www.plos.org