Ohio Academic Libraries Support Public Library of Science
June 1, 2004
OhioLINK will fund half of PLoS’ publication
fee for authors at 85 Institutions
COLUMBUS, Ohio -The Ohio Library and Information Network
(OhioLINK) announced that it will fund half of the publication fee for
all faculty and researchers at OhioLINK member institutions whose articles
are published in the Public Library of Science’s (PLoS) open-access
journals. This commitment demonstrates OhioLINK’s strong support
of PLoS both in its role as an advocate for open-access publishing and
as a publisher of peer-reviewed journals whose content is freely accessible
online.
The Public Library of Science is a nonprofit organization
of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific
and medical literature a public resource, freely available to all. PLoS
publishes peer-reviewed, open-access journals, including PLoS Biology
and the forthcoming PLoS Medicine, whose award-winning content has been
lauded by international media outlets from the New York Times to le Monde.
OhioLINK, a consortium of 84 Ohio college and university
libraries plus the State Library of Ohio, was motivated to support PLoS
to help address the difficulties many academic libraries face in maintaining
journal collections that have been negatively impacted by a combination
of financial constraints and the continued rising costs of traditional
journal subscriptions. OhioLINK first demonstrated its support for alternate
publishing models by joining BioMed Central, another leading open-access
publisher, as an institutional member in November 2003.
“The OhioLINK community considers it essential that
open access and other innovations in scholarly communications are given
a chance to be evaluated and adopted if successful,” Tom Sanville,
Executive Director of OhioLINK, said. “By supporting PLoS, we can
foster faculty publication through the most cost effective means possible,
while simultaneously maximizing access to their research.”
“The commitment by OhioLINK to subsidize PLoS publication
charges provides a strong incentive for affiliated authors to publish
their best work in PLoS open-access journals,” noted Dr. Helen Doyle,
PLoS Director of Development and Strategic Alliances. “This innovative
channel of support for open access can help to catalyze a widespread transition
to open-access publishing in science and medicine, and is a model others
should follow.”
Six OhioLINK member libraries provide additional support
to PLoS as institutional members. Denison University, Kenyon College,
Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Ohio State University and the
College of Wooster are all PLoS institutional members.
OhioLINK's commitment to fund 50% of the publication fee
for PLoS journals will remain in effect indefinitely, although the policy
is subject to periodic review. PLoS provides a full or partial waiver
of publication charges for any author who requests one, no questions asked.
Any such request is shielded from editors and reviewers to ensure the
integrity of the peer-review process.
About OhioLINK:
The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is a consortium of
academic libraries that serves more than 600,000 students, faculty, and
staff at 85 institutions. OhioLINK's membership includes 17 public universities,
23 community/technical colleges, 44 private colleges and the State Library
of Ohio. OhioLINK provides easy access to information and rapid delivery
of library materials throughout the state. For more information about
OhioLINK, visit www.ohiolink.edu.
Contact: Candi Clevenger, Communications Manager, OhioLINK 614-728-3600
ext. 329 or candi@ohiolink.edu
About PLoS:
For more information about PLoS, please contact outreach coordinator Andy
Gass [
agass@plos.org; 415-624-1202]
or see
www.plos.org.
