Springer acquires BioMed Central
Many of you will already have heard the exciting news that Springer Science + Business Media has acquired BioMed Central. This is great news for open access, demonstrating that open access publishing is now a sustainable and proven business model for STM publishing. Thanks to the acquisition of BioMed Central, Springer is now the world's largest OA publisher. In the official announcement, Springer's CEO Derk Haank noted that Springer's Open Choice program, launched in 2004, had been a "positive experience" for the company, and that BioMed Central would strengthen Springer's portfolio of biomedical journals and would allow Springer to offer societies a greater range of publishing options.
BioMed Central will continue to operate as an autonomous unit, and little if anything will change from the perspective of our institutional customers. There are no plans for price increases as a result of the acquisition - although of course we reserve the right to adjust prices from time to time where necessary. BioMed Central remains 100% commited to the open access publishing model for peer-reviewed research, and this commitment is guaranteed by BioMed Central's Board of Trustees, which approved the acquisition by Springer.
If you have any questions, please do not hestitate to contact us.
Journal Impact Factors
Since our last newsletter the 2007 Journal Citation Report from Thomson Reuters has been released. 15 BioMed Central journals have received Impact Factors for the first time including BMC Biology, the biological flagship journal of the BMC series, which has debuted with an impressive Impact Factor above 5.0.
With a total of 42 journals now having official Impact Factors and with many more now being old enough to be tracked and expecting Impact Factors within the next two years, this announcement has confirmed the excellent performance and growing reputation of BioMed Central's journals.
For further information about BioMed Central's Impact Factors, read our blog post.
Growing support for central open access publication funds
As open access publishing has grown, institutions have recognized that the funding models supporting scholarly communication need to evolve to keep pace.
Over the last 12 months, BioMed Central has run a number of workshops on institutional collaborations between librarians and funding agencies. Now several institutions are leading the way and have set up their own central funds, allowing their authors to use these funds when publishing in an open access journal.
A central fund for open access publishing, alongside the library budget, allows an author to choose the right journal for their research rather than finding themselves forced to publish in a subscription-based journal because it is the only model that their institution provides funding for.
An increased number of mandatory open access policies are coming into force, including that of the European Commission announcing a new pilot project confirming financial support for open access publications linked to the EC Seventh Research Framework.
For more information on how to set up a central fund and to read more on those institutions that have set up open access central funds, visit our case study page.
Open Repository - Latest News
Open Repository is delighted to report the following new additions to its client portfolio:
Health Services Executive (Ireland)
Instytut Medycyny Pracy (Poland)
Médecins Sans Frontières (International)
Museum of London (UK)
Through the implementation of the Open Repository system, our team can provide all clients with a personalized in-house repository that maximises the distribution of their intellectual output at a fraction of the cost of other commercial systems.
Open Repository's Sales Representative
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New to the Open Repository team is Michaela Krog. Michaela will work closely with our clients on all their repository needs. Michaela is your point of call on any questions you may have when wanting to find out more on Open Repository.
You can contact Michaela directly by either calling +44 (0) 20 7631 9947 or emailing Michaela.Krog@biomedcentral.com
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2009 Catalog - Have you received your copy?
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By now you should have received your 2009 BioMed Central catalog, which lists our wide portfolio of all our products and services for researchers and students in the field of biology and medicine.
New to 2009 is Genome Medicine, the sister journal to the prestigious Genome Biology. Access to all Genome Medicine content will be FREE throughout 2009, so spread the word throughout your institution and let your researchers benefit!
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Libraries can also benefit from a special 30% discount off the Journal Collection, comprising of Arthritis Research & Therapy, Breast Cancer Research, Critical Care, Genome Biology, The Scientist, Biology Image Library and Faculty of 1000. Please refer to your catalog for further information on each of these products.
Should you require additional copies of the 2009 catalog please contact your sales representative.
Save 10% on all subscription products
Subscribe to any BioMed Central product or service and save 10% on your first year subscription. This offer is only available until 31st November so why not get in touch with your Sales Representative for further information including usage statistics on the products that interest your researchers?
Alternatively why not trial before you buy? - Many of our products have a free 30-day trial available to institutions. Full usage statistics are available in helping you make your subscription decision.
Meet the team - BioMed Central on location
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at the following events. Email institutions@biomedcentral.com for an appointment or just drop by the booth. We look forward to meeting you.
SPARC Digital Repositories Meeting 2008
17th - 19th November
Renaissance Harborplace Hotel
Baltimore, USA
Open Repository will be the lunchtime sponsor at SPARC 2008, please refer to our Open Repository section for contact information on our new Sales Representative, Michaela Krog who will be attending this event.
Online Information 2008
2nd - 4th December
Olympia Grand Hall
London, UK
Matthew Cockerill, Publisher of BioMed Central will be presenting at Online 2008:
Presentation: Latest developments in open access
Thursday 4th December from 11.50 - 12.20
Room Theatre C
If you are attending Online 2008 and would like to attend this presentation, make sure you arrive early, as demand is high.
Are you up to date? - Recent new journals
BioMed Central continues to develop its portfolio of journals and subject areas and now publishes over 190 peer-reviewed open access journals.
With seven new additions since July, make sure you stay up to date with all our new releases by signing up to receive email notifications and be sure to catalog our journals.
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