News Release

Freedom of information - The impact of free access on biomedical science

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMC (BioMed Central)

Science is changing. Soon, scientific research will be made freely available to all online. PubMed Central and other free access initiatives are making it clear that the way science is communicated, used and done will change forever. But what will the impact of free access publishing be on the working lives of scientists, publishers, librarians and the general public? And what effect will free access to research have on science itself? Some of the key players from the scientific community are due to discuss these issues at a conference to be held on 6-7 July 2000 in New York.

"Personal computers and the Internet promise revolutionary changes in methods of scientific publishing that have persisted for three hundred years," says Dr Harold Varmus, President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center who will address the conference. "Now we have the opportunity, and the imperative, to distribute scientific findings in a fashion that allows free access and serves the scientific community and the public in a highly responsible way. We need to know how this will change the way we, as scientists, go about our business."

"Not all publishers and librarians are adding enough value to the information they handle," says Jan Velterop, Director of Publishing at Nature who will also be speaking at the conference. "If they are going to continue to earn their existence, they must find new ways to serve the scientific community. But does "freedom of information" mean information for free? This conference will be a very important forum to discuss this issue."

The conference will be held on the 6-7 July 2000 at the New York Academy of Medicine, New York, USA. Information on the event and registration details are available on-line at www.biomedcentral.com/conference.asp.

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There are a limited number of places for the media to attend this event free of charge. To register or receive further information please visit www.biomedcentral.com or contact Andrew McLaughlin on andrew@biomedcentral.com or 44-20-7323-0323

Organizing committee: Professor Pat Brown (Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford University), Dr Fiona Godlee (British Medical Journal Publishing Group) Dr David Lipman (Director of the National Center for Biotechnology at the NIH) and Jan Velterop (Publishing Director of Nature) in association with BioMed Central.

Dr Harold Varmus's proposal for an archive of electronic publications in the biomedical sciences can be found at: www.nih.gov/about/director/pubmedcentral/ebiomedarch.htm

Registration to attend the conference will be free to journalists. A fee of $200 (US) for individuals from not-for-profit organizations and $500 (US) to individuals from corporate organizations will be applicable to registrations before 1 June 2000. The fee will rise to $250 (US) and $750(US) respectively after this date. Registration for the event is ONLY online at www.biomedcentral.com

Directions to the New York Academy of Medicine can be found at www.nyam.org/nyam/info.html

BioMed Central is a new publishing house that will give free access to research at www.biomedcentral.com.

BioMed Central is part of the Current Science Group -- a group of independent companies that collaborate closely with each other to publish and develop information and services for the professional biomedical community. The Group has its head-office in London (UK), with additional offices in Philadelphia, New York and Tokyo. www.current-science-group.com


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