Committed to making the world’s scientific and medical literature a public resource

Outline of presentation Background Challenges Status report Future plans

Journal prices CPI/inflation Journals purchased The journals crisis Source: Association of Research Libraries

The promise of open access 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

PLoS Founding Board of Directors Harold Varmus PLoS Co-founder and Chairman of the Board President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Patrick O. Brown PLoS Co-founder and Board Member Howard Hughes Medical Institute & Stanford University School of Medicine Michael B. Eisen PLoS Co-founder and Board Member Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory & University of California at Berkeley

What is open access? Free access Unrestricted use Author retains the right to be acknowledged Papers are deposited in a public database eg PubMed Central

Researcher Publisher Reader $ $ Pay-per-view $ Subscription $ $ Library Agent Subscription journals

Researcher Publisher Reader $ Open access Publishing is the final step in a research project

Transition state economics Open accessSubscription- based ?

Catalysts for change Open access journals - BMC, PLoS Experimentation amongst publishers - ESA, OUP, APS, COB Policy change in funding agencies - HHMI, Wellcome Trust, Berlin Declaration Other organizations - SPARC, JISC Institutions, libraries Pioneer authors

Publishing strategy Launch two high quality open access journals to rival existing top tier journals. PLoS Biology - October, 2003 PLoS Medicine Launch specialist open access journals Inspire other organizations to do the same

Basic information All the qualities of a top-tier journal Online journal has primacy Print subscription at cost Monthly issues Publication charge $1500 Primary research plus commentary

Where are we now? Launch – Oct 13 Extensive press coverage High volume traffic

Long-term goals Economic sustainability Development of tools/resources Open access becoming the favoured mode of publishing

Open Access and Developing Nations Access to knowledge Improved impact But… Connectivity/bandwidth Author charges

Conclusions PLoS is… driven by the scientific community an open access publisher a research organization an agent of change

Make PLoS journals the journals you’ve always wanted Authors: submit your next great paper to PLoS Biology Reviewers: provide prompt constructive reviews Tell us how you want your journals to look and operate Be an open access/PLoS advocate –Tell your colleagues about PLoS –Sign up for PLoS alerts at our web site

Developing a sustainable operation Flagship journals journal growth, author charge, advertising, sponsorship, costs Increase volume new titles, database style journals Lobbying Transitional measures membership scheme, grants

Kofi Annan - Challenge to Scientists “…the way in which scientific endeavours are pursued around the world is marked by clear inequalities.” “This unbalanced distribution of scientific activity generates serious problems not only for the scientific community in the developing countries, but for development itself” “…your advocacy can bring about a breakthrough to scientific knowledge…” Science, March, 2003

PLoS – a brief history Founded in October, 2000 Circulated an open letter urging publishers to increase access to research literature >30,000 signatories Some positive effects, but overall response from publishers fell short of demands In December, 2002, $9million grant from Moore Foundation to launch open access journals.

Barriers to open access Publishers - commercial success Societies - publishing supports them Authors - submitting to a new journal Funding agencies - don’t fund publishing Libraries - funding uncertainties

Editorial Staff Vivian Siegel PLoS Executive Director Formerly Editor of Cell Philip Bernstein PLoS Senior Editor Formerly Executive Editor of Journal of Experimental Medicine Barbara Cohen PLoS Senior Editor Formerly Executive Editor of Journal of Clinical Investigation Catriona MacCallum PLoS Senior Editor Formerly Editor of Trends in Ecology & Evolution Hemai Parthasarathy PLoS Senior Editor Formerly Senior Editor at Nature Mark Patterson PLoS Senior Editor Formerly Publisher for Company of Biologists

Editorial aims and scope The best life science research from molecules to ecosystems. Outstanding service to authors editorial board members working with professional editors from start to end. Accessibility and relevance synopses, opinion and commentary.

Priorities Maintain standard in PLoS Biology Launch PLoS Medicine next year Plan launch of specialist titles Establish collaborations to convert/launch OA journals

The Berlin Declaration ”… the Internet now offers the chance to constitute a global and interactive representation of human knowledge, including cultural heritage and the guarantee of worldwide access. New possibilities of knowledge dissemination not only through the classical form but also and increasingly through the open access paradigm via the Internet have to be supported.” Signatories: All major funders in Germany CNRS, INSERM, and others