MUSC Library joins BioMed Central
The MUSC Library recently joined BioMed Central (BMC), providing an
alternative route for publication of research results. Until recently,
only two avenues were available for scholarly publications: journals
of professional societies and organizations or journals sponsored by
a for-profit company. From the scientist’s perspective, both avenues
share disadvantages such as extensive time lapse from peer-review to
actual publication, page charges and reprint costs, submission to multiple
journals before acceptance, and yielding the copyright to the publisher.
BioMed Central is a partnership that seeks to change the current model
of scholarly publishing. The Library’s membership allows MUSC
faculty, staff and students to publish in BMC journals without paying
the typical $500+ article processing charges. The author retains full
copyright for publications in these journals. As the articles are published,
they are immediately indexed in the PubMed database and archived at
PubMed Central. Citations to individual articles are also covered in
the ISI Web of Society/Science Citation Index and Ovid MEDLINE databases.
Already, MUSC faculty members have published twelve articles in recent
BMS journals. These citations may be viewed at www.biomedcentral.com/inst/46862.
BioMed Central also provides a way for professionals to start their
own journals under their own editorial control. Details are provided
at www.biomedcentral.com/info/authors/startajournal.
The MUSC Library purchased BMC membership through the Consortium of
Southern Biomedical Libraries (CONBLS). MUSC faculty, staff and students
have complete access to more than 75% of the BMC journals and to 100%
of research articles in the remainder. BioMed Central can be accessed
through the MUSC Library website at www.library.musc.edu
or directly at www.biomedcentral.com.
Source: MUSCLS Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 1, Winter 2004.
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