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Open access mandates and policies
Open access mandates and policies continue to be issued by funding bodies and government at an exciting pace. This month, the Australian Research Council (ARC) released its Funding Rules for funding commencing in 2008. The ARC encourages researchers to deposit published articles in open access repositories.
Austria's central body for the promotion of basic research, Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF), adopted an open access policy in October 2006. FWF encourages deposition in open access repositories, and also allows researchers to apply for reimbursement of article processing charges associated with publishing in open access journals.
The Wellcome Trust has extended its open access mandate to apply to all grants, including those awarded prior to the 1 October 2005, when the mandate was introduced. The Wellcome Trust is also making funds available for publication in open access journals. In the UK, five research councils (MRC, BBSRC, ESRC, NERC and PPARC) have announced open access mandates, which all come into effect in 2006.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) released a draft policy that would mandate open access to CIHR-funded research. On October 23, China announced a new policy to mandate open access to most publicly-funded research data. India recently hosted the Workshop on Electronic Publishing and Open Access, which led to the launch of the National Open Access Policy for Developing Countries.
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Consortium news
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BioMed Central is delighted to announce the following consortium news:
Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries
9 Swiss Universities have renewed subscriptions to BioMed Central's products through the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries for another year.
CAUL
CAUL (Council of Australian University Librarians) consortium has renewed memberships and subscription products for 19 universities in Australia.
IRIS
The Consortium of Irish University and Research Libraries (IRIS) has renewed its subscription to Faculty of 1000 Biology and Genome Biology and we are pleased to announce that it has also added Faculty of 1000 Medicine to its portfolio.
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BioMed Central open access events
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Open access is now an established part of the scientific publishing arena, and BioMed Central, the leading open access publisher, will be hosting two open access events during 2007.
BioMed Central Open Access Colloquium
Entitled ‘Open Access: How Can We Achieve Quality and Quantity?’, BioMed Central’s Open Access Colloquium will be held in London (UK) on Thursday 8th February, 2007. This one-day event is aimed at authors, clinicians, funders, librarians, and policy makers. Admission is free and lunch will be provided. To take advantage of this opportunity to hear a wide range of speakers discuss the relationship of quality and quantity in an open access framework, please complete the registration form on the Colloquium website. Space is limited and you wil be contacted in the new year to confirm your place.
BioMed Central's open access consultation
Taking place at MLA 2007 (Philadelphia, USA), BioMed Central will be holding a consultation workshop to discuss a number of issues relating to open access publishing including funding and payment mechanisms. The consultation will be held onsite at the MLA conference on Monday, May 21st, 2007 from 7.00 – 9.00am and breakfast will be provided. Spaces are limited, so please send an email to MLAconsultation@biomedcentral.com if you would like to attend.
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News from Faculty of 1000
As you may have already noticed Faculty of 1000 Biology and Medicine have a fresh look. The stylish new logos with accompanying straplines focus on the expert knowledge and opinions that make Faculty of 1000 Biology and Medicine essential and authoritative services for researchers and clinicians.
New Feature: Google Scholar
Faculty of 1000 Biology and Medicine now have an exciting new feature that links evaluated articles to their citations on Google Scholar. This addition makes accessing related information even easier and makes these resources more comprehensive than ever before.
Faculty of 1000 Medicine: One Year On
It’s been almost a year since Faculty of 1000 Medicine launched in January 2006 and it continues to grow and gain recognition as a fundamental service for medical researchers and clinicians. With a Faculty of over 2400 global leaders highlighting and evaluating the most important articles in medicine, the service provides users with expert knowledge that informs both clinical practice and research trends across 18 specialty areas. The list of leading institutions that subscribe continues to grow and we’re looking forward to an even more successful year in 2007.
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BioMed Central Research Awards
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| Nominations for the BioMed Central Research Awardsare still open, and all research articles published before the end of December 2006 will be eligible for the awards.
The BioMed Central Research Awards recognize excellence in research that has been made universally accessible by open access publication in one of BioMed Central's journals. Two awards of US $5000 will be made - one for biological research, and one for medical research
If you think researchers from your institution may be eligible, why not speak to your heads of department and see if they have any potential nominees? To nominate a published article for the awards, simply send an email indicating the article you wish to nominate and your reasons to: researchawards@biomedcentral.com.
The winners will be chosen by panels by expert scientists and clinicians and will be announced at BioMed Central's Open Access Colloquium on 8th February 2007.
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New Repositories
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Open Repository is delighted to announce the launch of several new repositories over recent months, including:
Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezonheid en Milieu (RIVM)
Helmholtz Institute for Infection Research
University of Chester
Last month also saw the official launch of Manchester Metropolitan University’s open access repository, e-space. For further information, please read our press release.
Open Repository has continued to provide free pilot repositories so users can try, without obligation, the service for themselves. Recent pilot repositories have included University of East London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Development work on Open Repository and DSpace is ongoing and as such the service that Open Repository offers will continue to grow. If you would like to stay up-to-date with all of the developments, sign-up to receive Open Repository email updates.
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| BioMed Central on location in 2007
BioMed Central will be attending the following conferences over the coming months. Please contact us at institutions@biomedcentral.com for an appointment or just drop by our booth if you are planning to attend any of these events. We look forward to meeting you!
ALA Midwinter Meeting
BioMed Central will be attending the American Library Association Midwinter meeting in Seattle, USA from 19th to 22nd January. Come and visit us at booth #352.
Information Online
Taking place in Sydney, Australia from 30th January to 1st February, BioMed Central will be exhibiting at booth #068. During the conference, Marianne Josserand-Haska will be giving a product review session entitled “Open access, a New Era Dawns” on Wednesday 31st January from 11:30-11:50am in Product Review Room 2.
HSLG
Taking place at Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, Ireland, on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th February, BioMed Central will be sponsoring the Health Sciences Libraries Group conference and will have a demonstration booth.
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Don't forget to promote your BioMed Central subscriptions!
Our Resource Center for Librarians continues to supply librarians with all the materials you need to promote your Membership and our complete range of subscription products. From posters and flyers to logos and email text, materials to publicise and promote your BioMed Central trial or subscription can be downloaded from each product page.
If you require additional assistance with promotion, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Services team.
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Journal news
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Three more independent journals tracked by Thomson Scientific (ISI)
Three BioMed Central journals have been accepted by Thomson Scientific (ISI) for inclusion in the Science Citation Index (Expanded). BioMedical Engineering Online, Molecular Pain, and the Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry (published by the Beilstein Institut in collaboration with BioMed Central) are now all on track to receive official Impact Factors.
Of our 170+ journals, 41 are currently covered by Thomson Scientific (ISI). For a full list of these journals, click here.
Journal accepted for tracking by MEDLINE
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We are pleased to announce that BMC Veterinary Research has just been accepted for tracking by MEDLINE. BMC Veterinary Research was launched in 2005 and publishes original peer-reviewed research articles in all aspects of veterinary science and medicine.
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New journals launched
Help your researchers to make the most of open access by cataloguing all of our journals. In the last three months, we have launched four new journals as part of our innovative 'Independent Journals Program':
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Please sign up here for e-mail alerts to notify you of newly launched journal title, ISSN, URL and journal scope information.
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