Open Access news:
The German national funder provides open access funds
An announcement in October last year by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) stated that the DFG would provide open access funding to German universities, allowing universities to create a central fund for researchers to publish in open access journals without incurring the publishing fee themselves. DFG is the first national research funder to ever make funds available specifically to universities for open access publications which is a great achievement in the history of open access.
Have you applied for DFG funds? Please share your open access plans and activities with Johanna Kuhn, our German speaking Sales Representative.
JISC publish new report: Building a business case for an open access policy
A new report by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) demonstrates how universities can accurately estimate how much they could save through supporting open access publishing.
The 'Modelling scholarly communication options: cost and benefits for universities' report looks into how universities of all types can reduce costs through the economic model JISC has developed.
The report focuses on three approaches to open access:
- Open access journals – content freely available online using a business model that does not rely on subscriptions
- Open access repositories – the current subscription-based system is supplemented by the provision of open access articles in repositories
- Open access repositories with overlay services – content is collected in repositories and service providers carry out the publishing services necessary, for example the peer-review process
Learn and calculate how much your institution could save now by reading:
'Modelling scholarly communication options: cost and benefits for universities'
SPARC releases new open access guide
Key features in the report include:
- Information on current active funds
- Key policy decisions
- Implementation tools
- Resource allocation
- Fund promotion
Review Open-access publishing funds: A practical guide to design and implementation now
COPE additional signatories
Since our last update three more US institutions have joined the Compact for Open-Access Publication Equity (COPE):
COPE has been created to ensure a level playing field between subscription-based journals and open access journals. To find out how you can join, visit the COPE website directly.
Want to share your open access plans and activities with us? Please do let us know; we would really like to hear from you.
Member news: SWORD protocol
We are pleased to announce an important new development, designed to help Member institutions adopt a fully integrated approach to open access by automatically populating their institutional repositories with newly published articles from BioMed Central's open access journals.
BioMed Central has developed an automated article-deposit system based on the SWORD protocol (Simple Web-service Offering Repository Deposit) 'lowering barriers to deposit'. Using this system, any open access article published in a BioMed Central journal will be automatically deposited in its official final published form into the author's institutional repository, offering significant savings of time and effort for both authors and repository administrators. BioMed Central's SWORD deposit service is offered at no additional charge to all BioMed Central Member institutions – for more information see our SWORD deposit service webpage.
If you are interested in the SWORD deposit service contact your Sales Representative.
Latest features from Open Repository
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In recent months Open Repository, BioMed Central's hosted solution for building and maintaining customized institutional repositories, has continued to develop to meet the needs of the repository community developing two new features that have kept it at the forefront of development in the repository market: |
Collection Management System Integration
Administrators, managers and authors can now build content rich sites which include metadata and assets from digital repositories, as well as FAQs, news feeds, blogs, tutorials and more. Thisability allows users to search, browse and display items contained in the Digital Asset Management System within a content framework.
Enhanced Stats
In order for repository administrators to effectively manage their repository it is imperative that they have access to accurate and easily accessible statistics for their repository usage. To keep up with this need, Open Repository has developed an advanced stats feature that enables institutions to keep track of how their researchers are using their repository and the all important citation tracking.
If you would like to receive more regular updates about Open Repository, then why not sign up to receive the Open Repository newsletter? The next issue is available soon.
On Location
BioMed Central will be exhibiting at the following upcoming conferences. Email for an appointment or just drop by our booth. We look forward to meeting you.
Are you attending any other conferences in 2010 that are not listed? Contact us and let us know where you will be.
 
New look website
January 2010 saw the launch of Genome Medicine's new website which has been designed to provide a fresh modern look for the journal as well as enhancing the user experience. Please do encourage your researchers to visit the site and experience the new features for themselves.
No obligation trial available
Remember, as of January 2010, all commentaries, reviews, mini reviews and reports published inGenome Medicine are only available
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A free trial to Genome Medicine includes:
- Immediate access to all subscription only content for all your researchers through IP recognition
- Full usage statistics to help you make an informed decision
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Consortium News
BioMed Central is delighted to confirm that the following consortiums have recently renewed their subscriptions and we look forward to assisting their research needs throughout 2010:
NERL: NorthEast Research Libraries Consortium
Subscriber since 2003
17 members renewed
CAUL: Council of Australian University Librarians
Subscriber since 2003
17 members renewed
Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries
Subscriber since 2003
7 members renewed
NEW: Membership
CAS: China Academy of Sciences
All CAS members can benefit from a 60% discount when publishing in our journals.
Team news:
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We are delighted to announce a new addition to the Sales Team. Bob Schatz is joining us as our North American Sales Manager. Bob has thirty years of experience in sales and management positions with a number of book and journal vendors to academic libraries. He is a regular participant in conference panels, and is on the editorial board of a major library journal.
Bob replaces Maria Romano, who has now left the Sales Team. Maria has for the last 5 years played a major role in BioMed Central's growth and development of open access to the library community and I am sure you will join us in wishing her all the best for the future. |
The Sales Team now also have slightly different regions to look after; to check which Sales Representative is responsible for your area, take a look at our contacts page. |
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Announcing the launch of
BioMed Central is delighted to announce the launch of the latest edition to its journal portfolio Stem Cell Research & Therapy.
Stem Cell Research & Therapy is the major forum for translational research into stem cell therapies with a special emphasis on basic, translational, and clinical research into stem cell therapeutics, including animal models, and clinical trials.
The journal will be edited by a world-renowned Editorial Board and is set to become essential reading for all physicians, clinical researchers and life scientists involved in stem cell research.
All subscription content will be freely available throughout the journal's inaugural year allowing researchers unrestricted access to all reviews, commentaries and viewpoints as well as all the open access research articles. If you would like further information on Stem Cell Research & Therapy or would like us to send you print copies of the inaugural issue to distribute around your library, contact us.
Order your 2011 subscription during 2010 and receive an 18-month subscription for the price of 12. To discuss this offer, contact your Sales Representative.
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