4. Traditional research publishing
The research community
transfers the rights to the
research to the publisher
The publisher covers costs
by selling access to the
content
5. Open Access research publishing
No barriers to access
No exclusive rights
Publisher receives payment for
the service of publication
6. About BioMed Central
Largest publisher of peer-reviewed open
access journals
Launched first open access journal in 2000
Now publishes 199 OA titles
>50,000 peer-reviewed OA articles published
All research articles published under Creative
Commons licence
Costs covered by 'article processing charge'
(APC)
7. Three key types of journal
BMC-series (~60 titles)
– Largely in-house editorial process
– Systematic coverage of all areas of biology and medicine
– Aims to publish all scientifically sound research
– BMC Biology and BMC Medicine highlight top research
– BMC Research Notes publishes incremental results, datasets etc.
Independent journals (~135 titles)
– External Editors-in-Chief
– External editorial process (with option of in-house support)
– Some are broad, some focus on a specific niche
– Often society-affiliated
Hybrid journals (~6 titles)
– In-house editorial process
– Commissioned content available to subscribers
– All research open access
8. BioMed Central revenue streams
Publication fees
– From authors
– From meeting organizers
– From sponsoring organizations
Subscription content (e.g. reviews)
Services (e.g. Open Repository)
Advertising / sponsorship
10. Putting Open Access fees into
perspective
Top-down and bottom-up analyses
come to similar conclusion
Average publisher revenue per STM
article, under the traditional
subscription-based model, is around
£3000 ($4700)
11. What do OA publication fees cover?
Open access publishing has most of the
same costs as the traditional system:
– Editorial
– Technical
– Production
– Customer services
– Marketing (e.g. conference attendance)
12. OA publication fees ($US)
BioMed Central $915-$2265
Public Library of Science $1300-$2850
Company of Biologists $2560
Oxford University Press $3000
Royal Society $2550-$4420
Springer $3000
Taylor & Francis $3250
Wiley $3000
13. How do OA publication fees get paid?
Authors may pay out of grant funds
Some funders provide dedicated funds
for open access publishing costs
Institutions may cover costs centrally
(via open access funds and/or
membership arrangements with OA
publishers)
Some journals are run by organizations
which cover costs themselves
14. BioMed Central membership
Prepay membership
– Institution pays funds into a deposit account
– Article Processing Charge is covered by funds from
account
– Discount depending on deposit amount
– Author does not have to pay
– Simplified administration/reporting
Supporter membership
– Institutions pay a flat fee
– Authors pay a discounted Article Processing Charge
15. How are BioMed Central articles
paid for?
100%
80%
Discretionary waivers
60% Low income country waiver
Promotional waiver
Full/prepay member
Individual APC (supporter)
40%
Individual APC (standard)
20%
0%
May-05
May-06
May-07
May-08
May-09
Nov-05
Nov-06
Mar-07
Nov-07
Mar-08
Mar-09
Mar-05
Mar-06
Nov-08
Jul-07
Jul-08
Jan-05
Jul-05
Jan-06
Jul-06
Jan-07
Jan-08
Jan-09
Sep-06
Sep-07
Sep-08
Sep-05
16. Not all publication fees come
from authors
Author’s pay
publication
fee for
research
articles
DFG funding
covers cost of
additional
articles
17. Some BioMed Central journals with
no author fees
Chinese Medicine
Chiropractic & Osteopathy
Italian Journal of Pediatrics
Journal of Biomedical Science
Journal of Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Injury
Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research
Journal of the International AIDS Society
Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and
Emergency Medicine
Sports Medicine, Arthroscopy, Rehabilitation, Therapy &
Technology
20. Advantages of peer review cascade
Avoids delays for authors
Avoids saddling academics with
repeated peer review of less interesting
papers
Separates question of soundness of
research from level of interest
– Soundness determines whether to publish
– Interest determines where to publish
23. Examples of additional services
A hosted digital
repository solution
Integration ensures
articles published in
OA journals can
easily be included
24. Advertising
Common question from would-be
journal editors:
“Can we support a journal entirely
with advertising?”
Unlikely - advertising is small
fraction of revenue for BioMed
Central journals
25. Institutions, funders and open access
Mandatory OA-deposit policies
from research funders
E.g. NIH, HHMI, UK PMC funder group
Institutional OA-deposit mandates
E.g. Harvard, MIT, UCL
Central institutional open access
funds
E.g. Nottingham, Newcastle, Calgary, Berkeley
27. Growth in quarterly manuscipt
submissions
7000
6000
5000
Science Now
4000 Genome Biology
Independent Journals
3000 BMC Research Notes
BMC series
2000
1000
0
O 0
Ap 0
O 1
Ap 1
O 2
Ap 2
O 3
Ap 3
O 4
Ap 4
O 5
Ap 5
O 6
Ap 6
O 7
Ap 7
8
O 8
r-0
r-0
-0
-0
r-0
r-0
-0
-0
r-0
-0
-0
-0
r-0
-0
r-0
r-0
-0
r-0
ct
ct
ct
ct
ct
ct
ct
ct
ct
Ap
37. Goals of OASPA
Represents Open Access publishers
Agree common definition of Open Access
Establish and enforce good standards of
editorial and business practices amongst
members
Identify guidelines and best practices for
publishers and institutions in managing
payment of publication fees
39. Springer acquisition FAQs
Will BioMed Central’s policy of open access to all
research continue?
Yes – this was an obligatory condition for the deal to gain
approval by BioMed Central’s Board of Trustees
Is BioMed Central profitable?
Springer bought BioMed Central because it is a healthy
publishing business, in a growing sector of the market
Will BioMed Central APCs be increased to Springer
Open Choice levels?
There are no plans to change BioMed Central’s APC
pricing policy as a result of the deal
40. What does the acquisition mean for
BioMed Central?
BioMed Central remains an autonomous
operating unit within Springer
Springer’s global infrastructure and market
presence is helping BioMed Central to
expand its activities
Springer has a wealth of experience in
society publishing
As part of Springer, BioMed Central is
ideally placed to publish open access
society journals