This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by arun@mssrf.res.in. Here is an editorial in New York Times on open access. Arun arun@mssrf.res.in /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com. http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Open Access to Scientific Research August 7, 2003 A number of influential scientists have begun to argue that the cost of research publications has grown so large that it impedes the distribution of knowledge. Some subscriptions cost thousands of dollars per year, and those journals are usually available online only to subscribers. This looks less like dissemination than restriction, especially if it is measured against the potential access offered by the Internet. That is why a coalition led by Dr. Harold Varmus, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, is creating a new model, called the Public Library of Science. Several years ago Dr. Varmus's group issued an open letter, signed by some 30,000 colleagues, calling on the publishers of scientific journals to make their archived research articles freely available online. Most journals declined, so they would not undercut the profitable business of selling expensive subscriptions to libraries. But there is a basic inequity when much of the research has been financed by public money. The Public Library of Science plans to confront that inequity by establishing a new series of peer-reviewed journals that will be freely available on the Internet. The first ones, published this October, will be PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine. The aim is to create a freer flow of data about research and results. The journals will pay for themselves by charging a small fee to the organizations and institutions that support the research. Most of us, admittedly, will not have much use for free access to new discoveries in, say, particle physics. But it is a different matter when it comes to medical research. Popular nostrums abound on the Web, but it can be very hard, if not impossible, to find the results of properly vetted, taxpayer-financed science - and in some cases it can be hard for your doctor to find them, too. The Public Library of Science could help change all that, creating open access to research. The publishers of scientific journals are naturally skeptical, but the real test will come in the marketplace of ideas. What will matter this fall, when the new journals make their debut, is how many scientists choose to publish in them rather than in the journals traditionally deemed the most prestigious in their disciplines. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/07/opinion/07THU3.html?ex=1061257104&ei=1&en=497dcfd81244969b --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company