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May 4, 2006
Editors Voice Concern About BMC Publishing Practices
Open access publisher BioMed Central, UK, is reportedly set to face a revolt from the editors of several of its 93 independent journals who have expressed discontent over the way the journals are being managed. According to media reports, the editors are contemplating shifting their journals to other publishers. The editors of BMC independent journals have full editorial control over the titles but the article production process is managed by BMC. The editors have voiced their dissatisfaction on BMC's execution of the open access model. Among other issues, editors are protesting recent increases in the article processing charge (APC), and reductions in the number of waivers that editors are permitted to offer to contributors who cannot afford the APC. Several editors have also complained that BMC is signing up new journals that compete with existing ones, leading to market cannibalism. BMC's publisher, Matthew Cockerill, has said that the company is working on the problems and insisted that the complaints are normal for any new company. Knowledgespeak Newsletter 5/3/06 See also the original report in The Scientist (registration may be required).
Posted by Katie Newman at May 4, 2006 11:37 AM