BioMed Central

BioMed Central is a prominent scientific publisher that specializes in peer-reviewed open access journals, providing a platform for researchers to share their findings with the global scientific community, including National Institutes of Health and Wellcome Trust. Founded by Jan Velterop and Bryan Vickery in 2000, BioMed Central has become a leading publisher of open access journals, with a portfolio that includes BMC Biology, BMC Medicine, and BMC Bioinformatics, which are indexed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. BioMed Central's journals are published in collaboration with University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and University of Oxford, among others. The publisher is also a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association and the Committee on Publication Ethics.

Introduction

BioMed Central is a United Kingdom-based publisher that has been at the forefront of the open access movement, working closely with Peter Suber, Stevan Harnad, and other prominent advocates of open access publishing. The publisher's mission is to provide a platform for researchers to share their findings with the global scientific community, including European Molecular Biology Organization, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and National Academy of Sciences. BioMed Central's journals cover a wide range of subjects, including biology, medicine, physics, and mathematics, and are published in collaboration with University of Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. The publisher's commitment to open access has been recognized by SPARC, PLOS, and DOAJ.

History

BioMed Central was founded in 2000 by Jan Velterop and Bryan Vickery, with the goal of providing a platform for researchers to share their findings with the global scientific community, including Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and Whitehead Institute. The publisher's early success was fueled by the launch of its first journal, BMC Bioinformatics, which was published in collaboration with University of California, San Diego and European Bioinformatics Institute. Since then, BioMed Central has expanded its portfolio to include over 250 journals, including BMC Biology, BMC Medicine, and BMC Neuroscience, which are indexed in PubMed Central, Scopus, and Web of Science. The publisher has also partnered with Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, and Open Knowledge Foundation to promote open access and open data.

Publications

BioMed Central publishes a wide range of journals, including BMC Biology, BMC Medicine, and BMC Bioinformatics, which are published in collaboration with University of California, Los Angeles, Harvard Medical School, and University of Chicago. The publisher's journals are peer-reviewed and cover a wide range of subjects, including genomics, proteomics, and systems biology, with contributions from researchers at Broad Institute, Sanger Institute, and National Human Genome Research Institute. BioMed Central's journals are also indexed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, and are available through DOAJ and Open Access Library. The publisher has also launched several new journals in recent years, including BMC Neuroscience, BMC Psychology, and BMC Systems Biology, which are published in collaboration with University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, and University of Sydney.

Open Access Policy

BioMed Central is a strong advocate of open access publishing, and all of its journals are published under a Creative Commons license, which allows authors to retain the copyright to their work and makes it available for reuse and redistribution, in accordance with the principles of Budapest Open Access Initiative and Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. The publisher's open access policy is supported by Wellcome Trust, National Institutes of Health, and European Research Council, among others. BioMed Central also offers a range of article processing charges to support its open access model, which are waived for authors from developing countries and low-income countries, in partnership with World Health Organization and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Impact and Reception

BioMed Central's journals have had a significant impact on the scientific community, with many of its journals being highly cited and widely read, according to Journal Citation Reports and Scopus. The publisher's commitment to open access has also been recognized by SPARC, PLOS, and DOAJ, among others. BioMed Central's journals have been cited by researchers at University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, and University of Oxford, among others, and have been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Nature, among other prominent publications. The publisher has also partnered with Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation to promote open access and open data, and has collaborated with Open Knowledge Foundation and Creative Commons to develop new open access models.

Criticisms and Controversies

Despite its success, BioMed Central has faced criticism and controversy over the years, including concerns about the quality of its journals and the article processing charges it levies on authors, which have been raised by Jeffrey Beall and University of Colorado Denver. The publisher has also faced criticism from traditional publishers such as Elsevier and Wiley-Blackwell, which have argued that open access publishing is unsustainable and threatens the integrity of the scientific publishing process, in statements made by Derek de Solla Price and Robert M. Solow. However, BioMed Central has responded to these criticisms by pointing to the success of its open access model and the high quality of its journals, which are published in collaboration with University of California, San Francisco, University of Michigan, and University of Washington. The publisher has also partnered with Committee on Publication Ethics and Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association to promote best practices in open access publishing. Category:Scientific publishing