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Conference Summary
Open Access Publishing
Jocelyn A. Rankin*
and Sandra G. Franklinâ€
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; and
†Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Suggested citation
for this article:
Rankin JA, Franklin SG. Open access publishing. [conference summary].
Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2004 Jul [date cited].
Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no7/04-0122.htm
An Open Access Publishing Conference was convened in Atlanta, Georgia,
on January 7, 2004, by the libraries of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and Emory University. Open Access is an emerging
publishing model for peer-reviewed scientific research in which authors
and their publishers grant free access to their work as long as the authors
are acknowledged and the publisher ensures that the work is made freely
available in a digital archive (1). The conference brought
together key stakeholders including scientists, researchers, publishers,
and librarians and included approximately 240 participants with 80 offsite
registrants connecting through the simultaneous Web cast.
The keynote address, "The Coming Revolution in the Publication of
Scientific Papers," delivered by Harold Varmus, emphasized that 1)
in today's Internet era, the traditional Gutenberg print publishing model
is outdated; 2) electronic publishing has the advantages of lower costs,
global distribution, content that can be linked to datasets, improved
archiving, and full-text searching; and 3) rigorous peer review is possible
in electronic and Open Access formats. Open Access publishing challenges
include engaging professional societies in this approach, building sustainable
business plans, and changing academic culture so that published works
are evaluated for content rather than for the journal label. Open Access
publishing is typically financed by author fees along with a combination
of philanthropic and advertising support. Examples are the Public Library
of Science, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and BioMed Central journals.
Recent milestones include the Bethesda Open Access Principles meeting
(1), the Wellcome Trust endorsement of Open Access, and support from the
Howard Hughes Medical Foundation and a number of leading European scientific
societies.
A panel of speakers gave stakeholders' perspectives. Sheldon Kotzin reviewed
the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) priorities regarding access to,
and permanent retention of, the world's biomedical literature. Reflecting
growing concerns about high costs of scientific publications, the U.S.
Congress recently directed the NLM to report on the impact of rising journal
subscription prices relative to access to medical research information
and to identify remedies to ensure that taxpayer-funded research remains
in the public domain. NLM's Open Access initiative is PubMed
Central, a digital archive of freely available life sciences journals.
After a slow start, the PubMed Central repository includes 137 journal
titles. PubMed Central expects
publishers to deposit full contents of each journal issue soon after publication.
Supplementary data files are also encouraged. The recent addition of a
single article from a journal that is not participating in PubMed
Central is broadening the definition of this archive. Another Open
Access approach was described by John Nickerson, editor of Emory University's
Molecular Vision, which has been freely available on the Internet since
its first issue in October 1995. A low-cost operation, Molecular Vision
is a refereed open access journal that has achieved scientific recognition
in its field.
Publishing trends affecting libraries were discussed by Linda Watson,
University of Virginia Health Sciences Library, and included: 1) journal
subscription price increases outpacing library budgets, 2) publishers'
bundling of journal subscriptions into large contracts often not well
matched with institutional research interests, 3) consolidations in the
publishing industry, 4) restrictive licensing terms overriding copyright
and fair use practices, 5) long-term archival access to electronic content,
and 6) selective deletions of published articles from databases and e-publications.
Presenting a scientist's perspective, CDC's Marta Gwinn noted that the
scientific community's overarching responsibility is to ensure that research
is conducted with integrity and quality and that access to it is fair,
maximizes value to users, and protects the public investment and interests.
The open access conference generated discussion about the scientific
research dissemination process and the need to strengthen the connections
between evidence-based research and healthcare action. With high quality,
peer-reviewed scientific research becoming freely available on the Internet,
possibilities for more rapid advances in scientific knowledge and ultimately
improved public health are important. Collaboration between government
and academia is necessary to make progress toward open access to scientific
research.
This conference was supported in part by the National Networks of Libraries
of Medicine, Southeastern Atlantic Region. Conference presentations are
available from: http://ada.healthsci.emory.edu/openaccess
Reference
- Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing [2003
Jun 20]. Available from: http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/bethesda.htm
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