Navigation Bar
Guides to Info. Resources > Research Guides by Subject Discipline > Open Access Journal in Biology

Last revised: March 2007

Open Access Journals in CBMG

Scope: The purpose of this page is to discuss the significance of open access (OA) publishing, specifically as it applies to the biological sciences. If you have any comments or questions, email Thomas Harrod at tharrod@umd.edu or call 301-405-7253.

What is Open Access?

Open access (or OA) represents a new and revolutionary model for the dispersal of scientific information - simply put, OA journals turns the traditional economic model of scholarly publishing upside-down.

In the traditional model, researchers who submit manuscripts may pay some of the publication costs, but the bulk of the expense is passed on to subscribers - most notably libraries - who purchase subscriptions to these journals in order to provide access to this material to their patrons.

OA material is distinguished from material that is published in the traditonal manner outlined above in several ways: (derived from the 'Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing' (1)):

  • OA material is freely available to all for any "reasonable purpose" as long as it is properly cited (1)
  • OA material is digitally archived immediately in order to insure free, perpetual access (1)
In the past several decades, journal costs have been increasing dramatically - well above the rate of increase for the consumer price index (CPI) and there has been an increasing awareness of this issue on the part of faculty members of universities around the country (2,3)

return to top

So Who Pays Then?

As mentioned previously, under the current system subscribers (such as libraries) pay for access to scholarly publications through subscription costs - so although the content may seem to be freely available over the internet, the library has paid to make that material available. (4) OA publishers, like the Public Library of Science (PLoS), often charge the authors themselves for the cost of publication - PLoS believes that the "costs of publication should be . . . treated as a small but essential part of the cost of research." (4) BioMed Central (BMC) has investigated and found that a large number of funding agencies actually support the idea of grant funds being used to subsidize this type of publication. (4,5)

return to top

Examples of OA Journals Covering Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics

(note - this list is not exhaustive)


The Preceding List Was Gathered From the Following Sources: BioMed Central, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Pubmed Central, and the Public Library of Science (PLoS)

return to top

Works Cited:
  1. "PMC Open Access Publishing." January 7, 2005 PubMed Central. National Library of Medicine. 23 Feb. 2007 < http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/about/openaccess.html >
  2. Hahn, Karla. "Serial Expenditures in ARL Libraries." Scholarly Communication - Libraries in the Marketplace. Association of Research Libraries. 23 Feb. 2007 < http://www.arl.org/sc/marketplace/serials.shtml >
  3. "Open Letter to All University Presidents and Provosts Concerning Increasingly Expensive Journals." January 22, 2007 Scholarly Communication - Faculty Speak Out Association or Research Libraries. 23 Feb. 2007 < http://www.arl.org/sc/faculty/index.shtml >
  4. "Frequently Asked Questions." Public Library of Science Public Library of Science. 7 Mar. 2007 < http://www.plos.org/about/faq.html#openaccess >
  5. "Summary of Funding Agency Policies on Open Access." BioMed Central BioMed Central. 7 Mar. 2007 < http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/authors/funderpolicies/ >
 

© 2007 University Libraries. University of Maryland. College Park, MD 20742-7011, (301) 405-0800
Last modified: May 14, 2007

Send us your comments | Privacy Policy
University of Maryland Libraries Home Catalog Research Port Ask us! How do I...? Site index Search