BioMed Central - Open-Access Publishing in the Real World

Matthew Cockerill
Technical Director, BioMed Central

What are the true costs of online publishing? To what extent can online tools
make the peer-review and publication process more efficient? What viable
business models are available to scientific publishers who believe in open
access? What practical benefits does open-access bring? What does it take to
persuade large number of scientists to choose new open-access publishers in
preference to established journals?

Since May 2000, BioMed Central (www.biomedcentral.com) has been publishing
peer-reviewed research articles in all areas of Biology and Medicine, with
unrestricted online access for all. This experience means we can now begin to
answer the questions outlined above, and flesh out a vision of an open-access
future for scientific publishing.