Open access publishing: a personal view David Fone Professor of Health Sciences Research School of Medicine Director, Centre for Health Sciences Research

Biomed Central Journals (188) BMC Public Health –indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, MEDLINE, CAS, Scopus, EMBASE, Thomson Scientific (ISI) and Google Scholar International Journal of Health Geographics –Tracked/indexed by PubMed, MEDLINE, CAS, Scopus and CABI Population Health Metrics –indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE

Main issues Perceived quality Quality of peer review Impact factors –New journals not covered by Thomson Scientific (ISI) –BMC Developmental Biology 5.41 Do the leading researchers publish?

Main advantages Open access Speed of publication –First publication in a series –Junior researchers Pre-publication history Easy electronic submission process Standard formatting with templates

Main advantages No constraints on space –Length of paper –Number of papers accepted Easy to add datasets, questionnaires Colour printing Feedback on hits

Main disadvantages Do own artwork Portrait only May be perceived as last resort journals Impact factors, RAE and academic suicide Cost

Conclusion Positive experience so far Advantages > disadvantages The market will decide

The vision Online open access journals extend the range of readership beyond the confines of libraries and subscriptions and truly opens up global communication of scientific ideas Ross Upshur Director, Primary Care Research Unit, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Toronto