BioMed Central already publishes open access journals, so why does PLoS need to launch more open access journals?
The entire open access literature—which includes BioMed Central journals—still represents only a few percent of the published literature. To shift the balance in favor of open access publishing, more open access journals are needed to cover the full range of research activity, both in terms of the field and the perceived impact of the work. Existing commercial publishers are unlikely to encourage this shift unless there are open access journals that are competing effectively for their business, and that’s not happening yet. Furthermore, while we applaud and support the efforts of BioMed Central to establish open access publishing as a viable commercial business model, PLoS, a nonprofit organization run for and by scientists, is a different type of organization with a different mission.
Related Questions
- BioMed Central already publishes open access journals, so why does PLoS need to launch more open access journals?
- What part of BioMed Central journals content is free, and what part do I have to pay a subscription fee for?
- Do journals published by BioMed Central have Impact Factors and are their citations tracked?
