…aims to provide resources about open access and internet technologies in the developing world. Emphasising the benefits to the developing world of increased internet technologies and open access to research, we hope to encourage projects and intiatives, and to showcase research published in open access journals that are of relevance to emerging countries.
…This new website calls attention to the benefits of open access to the scientific and medical literature for the developing world.
Open access and the developing world brings together the latest relevant research articles from BioMed Central’s open access journals, newsfeeds, author profiles, resources and a new section of the BioMed Central blog, which will provide a regular round-up of news and resources relating to open access and the developing world.
If access to the literature is something which affects your work in a low-income country, we'd like to hear from you.
As part of the launch of our Open Access and the developing world portal, BioMed Central is inviting researchers and practitioners working in developing countries to send in a photograph or video relating to their work, along with a story explaining how access to the scientific literature is an important issue for them.
To find out more, visit the Share your story page on the Open access and the developing world site….The sender of the best story received by 30 September 2007 will receive a contribution of $1000 towards computer equipment for the lab or project of their choice.
"Open access to the scientific and medical literature is a key way in which the developed world can help developing countries," said Matthew Cockerill, Publisher of BioMed Central. "In recent years, the funding for research on global health issues such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis has increased significantly thanks to support from philanthropic foundations. Open access is vital to ensure that the full use is made of the results of this research."
The research articles that will feature on the new portal includes publications from Malaria Journal, a leading BioMed Central journal which was recently ranked by Thomson Scientific as number one in the field of Tropical Medicine. Other BioMed Central journals which publish research highly relevant to developing countries include AIDS Research & Therapy, BMC Infectious Diseases, BMC Public Health and the International Journal for Equity in Health.
The portal also offers profiles of BioMed Central authors who work in developing countries, newsfeeds and a blog which will provide a regular round-up of news and resources relating to open access and the developing world.
"Working in a developing country I feel like I need to be one of those to take a lead in publishing much of my work in open-access journals," said Dr. Philip Hill, Clinical Epidemiologist at MRC Laboratories in Banjul, The Gambia. "I am very pleased that BioMed Central has provided this resource, which will be of particular benefit to researchers in developing countries." …
Posted by
Peter Suber at 7/19/2007 10:23:00 AM.
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.
