[All the BMC articles are XML files], which means that all the sections are marked up and machine-readable, including the author names, titles, PubMed ID numbers and bibliographies. Running a small Perl script through these files, sending Trackbacks from one article to another, lets HubMed now display the full list of references for each article - in both directions.
In other words, anyone looking at an article (such as this one) cited by an open-access paper, can click on the 'References' link, then follow the 'Cited By' link to the citing paper (this one). Which will, of course, increase the visibility of the open-access paper (which is also free for anyone to read). From here you'll also see a further 40 outward reference links, each of which can be followed in the same way.
This is a great resource, previously only partially available through a costly subscription (and gnarly interface) to ISI's Web of Knowledge, and a lead which I hope commercial, paid-access publishers will begin to follow as soon as possible.
This is a break-through development. To keep costs down and subsidies small, open-access proponents only ask authors and journals to provide open access to the "essential" full-text. If enhancements to the basic text are expensive, then the provider could well charge for them in order to recoup expenses. Until now, reference linking was an "inessential" that seemed too expensive to provide for open-access texts. BMC's willingness to provide free XML files as data, and Alf Eaton's programming skill, have changed this and put reference linking within the reach of open-access journals and archives.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 7/17/2003 02:38:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
