BioMed Central (BMC) is a United Kingdom-based, for-profit scientific open access publisher that produces over 250 scientific journals. All its journals are published online only. BioMed Central describes itself as the first and largest open access science publisher. It was founded in 2000 and has been owned by Springer, now Springer Nature, since 2008.
BioMed Central was founded in 2000 as part of the Current Science Group (now Science Navigation Group, SNG), a nursery of scientific publishing companies. SNG chairman Vitek Tracz developed the concept for the company after NIH director Harold Varmus's PubMed Central concept for open-access publishing was scaled back.[1] The first director of the company was Jan Velterop. Chemistry Central was established in 2006 and the PhysMath Central journal imprint in 2007.
In 2002, the company introduced article processing charges,[2] and these have since been the primary source of revenue. In 2007 Yale University Libraries stopped subsidizing BioMed Central article processing charges for Yale researchers.[3]
In October 2008, it was announced that BioMed Central (along with Chemistry Central and PhysMath Central) had been acquired by Springer Science+Business Media, the second largest STM publisher.[4] The Chemistry Central and PhysMath Central brands have since been retired.
Following the merger of BMC into Springer Nature, BMC journals were gradually converted to the general Springer Nature software. The software migration meant the loss of several features, often related to open science requirements, like the ability to download a machine-readable version of the paper (in XML format), direct download of PDF files and the ability to read articles without cookies.[6]
Journals
BioMed Central's flagship journals include BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Biology, BMC Medicine, Genome Biology and Genome Medicine. It also produces the BMC Series of journals covering the fields of biology and medicine. Most of the other journals published by BioMed Central are owned and produced independently by societies and academic editorial boards, with BioMed Central providing the hosting, publishing platform and marketing.
All journals are published online; some of the flagship journals have in the past also been available as print subscriptions, such as Arthritis Research & Therapy. Publications in BioMed Central journals are, immediately upon publication, released under the Creative Commons "Attribution" license which grants permission to reuse publications and produce derivative work. The only exceptions to this (as of 2010) were the flagship journals, which reserved rights on review and commentary content; those articles were available to purchase on a subscription or on a pay-per-view basis, becoming freely available (but not fully open access) to all after six months; however, as of January 2015, "no subscription fees apply to these journals or to any articles published in them."[7]
Open peer review
In 2001, BioMed Central was the first publisher to carry out open peer review as default, by openly posting named peer reviewer reports alongside published articles as part of a 'pre-publication history' for all medical journals in the BMC series. With currently 70 BMC journals operating fully open peer review.[8]
BMC Series
The BMC Series is a collection of several dozen online research journals published by BioMed Central.[9] Like all other BioMed Central journals, they have a policy of open access to the research articles they publish. Between them, they cover all major subject areas within biology and medicine. Two of the journals, BMC Biology and BMC Medicine, have a broad scope, and aim to publish particularly significant research. A third journal, BMC Research Notes, publishes scientifically valid research outputs that cannot be considered as full research or methodology articles across all scientific and clinical disciplines,[10] while BMC Proceedings publishes conference proceedings. The other journals specialise on a particular subject area. Due to their free licensing, images from BMC journals can be reused in other places.
Most BMC Series journals have an impact factor. As of 2016, for the 53 journals with impact factors, BMC Biology had the highest at 7.98.[11]
Databases
The company also has hosted biomedical databases, including the ISRCTN registry (previously Current Controlled Trials), a Primary Registry of clinical trials in the WHO Registry Network.[12] The Biology Image Library and the Cases Database, a database of medical case reports,[13] were closed in 2014.[14] The company also provided hosting for institutional repositories of publications based on the DSpace platform under the brand Open Repository.[15] The Open Repository activity was sold to Atmire in 2016.[16]
^"Interview with Vitek Tracz: Essential for Science". Infotoday.com. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
^Quint, Barbara (7 January 2002). "BioMed Central Begins Charging Authors and Their Institutions for Article Publishing". Information Today. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
^"Yale Libraries Pull Out of BioMed Central Over Cost of Publication". The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2007-08-09. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
^Suber, Peter (2008-10-07). . Earlham.edu. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
^"HIFA Supporting Organisations". HIFA2015. Archived from the original on 2014-12-08.
^Willighagen, Egon (2021-06-11). "Conflict of Interest. Or why I am stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cheminformatics". doi:10.5281/ZENODO.4926031. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^"Access to articles". BioMed Central. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
^"The BMC-series journals". BioMed Central. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
^Krüger, Dirk; Marshall, Diana M (14 February 2017). "Bite-size research: BMC Research Notes goes back to its roots". BMC Research Notes. 10 (1): 95. doi:10.1186/s13104-017-2418-y. PMC5307640. PMID 28193243.
^. BioMed Central. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
Albanese, Andrew (15 March 2004). . Library Journal: 17–18. Archived from the original on 1 May 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2005.
Amber, Dave (4 September 2000). "Scientists, Publishers, Societies—and Turf". The Scientist. 14 (17): 1.
Butler, Declan (25 May 2000). "BioMed Central Boosted by Editorial Board". Nature. 405 (6785): 384. doi:10.1038/35013218. PMID 10839505.
Chillingworth, Mark (9 August 2004). "BioMed Central Seeks Open Access Advice." Information World Review.
Cockerill, Matthew (16 December 1999). "Online Research Archive Will be Free to All". Nature. 402 (6763): 721–722. Bibcode:1999Natur.402..721C. doi:10.1038/45368. PMID 10617188.
Delamothe, Tony 21 June 2003 (2003). . BMJ. 326 (7403): 1350–1351. doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7403.1350-d. PMC1151020. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Accessed July 17, 2005.
Galbraith, Kate (July 11, 2003). "British Researchers Get to Publish in 90 Online Medical Journals Free". The Chronicle of Higher Education49 (44): A28.
Gavaghan, Helen (June 30, 2003). "Open-Access Publishing Finds Official Favor". The Scientist. Accessed July 17, 2005.
Godlee, Fiona (2000). . Freedom of Information Conference 2000 (London). Archived from the original on 2004-12-29. Retrieved 2005-07-17.
(September 3, 2001). "BioMed Central Launches 12 New Author-Initiated Research E-Journals". Information Today18 (9): 24–25. Accessed July 17, 2005.
Shearer, Kathleen (January 2002). . Ottawa: Canadian Association of Research Libraries. Accessed July 17, 2005.
Suber, Peter (September 6, 2001). "BioMed Central's Method of FOS" 2005-02-12 at the Wayback Machine. Free Online Scholarship Newsletter.
Watson, Linda A., Ivan S. Login, and Jeffrey M. Burns (2003). "Exploring New Ways to Publish: A Library-Faculty Partnership". Journal of the Medical Library Association91 (2): 245–247. Accessed July 17, 2005.
Young, Jeffrey R (January 18, 2002). "Publisher of Free Online Science Journal Charges Authors a "Processing Fee"". The Chronicle of Higher Education48 (19): A36.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to BioMed Central.
Official website
January 13, 2023
biomed, central, confused, with, pubmed, central, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, march, 2010, learn, when, re. Not to be confused with PubMed Central or BMJ This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message BioMed Central BMC is a United Kingdom based for profit scientific open access publisher that produces over 250 scientific journals All its journals are published online only BioMed Central describes itself as the first and largest open access science publisher It was founded in 2000 and has been owned by Springer now Springer Nature since 2008 BioMed CentralParent companySpringer NatureStatusActiveFounded2000 2000 FounderCurrent Science GroupHeadquarters locationLondon WC1United KingdomDistributionOpen accessPublication typesScientific journalsNonfiction topicsScienceOfficial websitewww wbr biomedcentral wbr comLogo of BioMed Central until 2018 Contents 1 History 2 Journals 2 1 Open peer review 2 2 BMC Series 3 Databases 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksHistory EditBioMed Central was founded in 2000 as part of the Current Science Group now Science Navigation Group SNG a nursery of scientific publishing companies SNG chairman Vitek Tracz developed the concept for the company after NIH director Harold Varmus s PubMed Central concept for open access publishing was scaled back 1 The first director of the company was Jan Velterop Chemistry Central was established in 2006 and the PhysMath Central journal imprint in 2007 In 2002 the company introduced article processing charges 2 and these have since been the primary source of revenue In 2007 Yale University Libraries stopped subsidizing BioMed Central article processing charges for Yale researchers 3 In October 2008 it was announced that BioMed Central along with Chemistry Central and PhysMath Central had been acquired by Springer Science Business Media the second largest STM publisher 4 The Chemistry Central and PhysMath Central brands have since been retired In November 2008 BioMed Central became an official supporting organisation of Healthcare Information For All 5 Following the merger of BMC into Springer Nature BMC journals were gradually converted to the general Springer Nature software The software migration meant the loss of several features often related to open science requirements like the ability to download a machine readable version of the paper in XML format direct download of PDF files and the ability to read articles without cookies 6 Journals EditBioMed Central s flagship journals include BMC Bioinformatics BMC Biology BMC Medicine Genome Biology and Genome Medicine It also produces the BMC Series of journals covering the fields of biology and medicine Most of the other journals published by BioMed Central are owned and produced independently by societies and academic editorial boards with BioMed Central providing the hosting publishing platform and marketing All journals are published online some of the flagship journals have in the past also been available as print subscriptions such as Arthritis Research amp Therapy Publications in BioMed Central journals are immediately upon publication released under the Creative Commons Attribution license which grants permission to reuse publications and produce derivative work The only exceptions to this as of 2010 were the flagship journals which reserved rights on review and commentary content those articles were available to purchase on a subscription or on a pay per view basis becoming freely available but not fully open access to all after six months however as of January 2015 no subscription fees apply to these journals or to any articles published in them 7 Open peer review Edit In 2001 BioMed Central was the first publisher to carry out open peer review as default by openly posting named peer reviewer reports alongside published articles as part of a pre publication history for all medical journals in the BMC series With currently 70 BMC journals operating fully open peer review 8 BMC Series Edit The BMC Series is a collection of several dozen online research journals published by BioMed Central 9 Like all other BioMed Central journals they have a policy of open access to the research articles they publish Between them they cover all major subject areas within biology and medicine Two of the journals BMC Biology and BMC Medicine have a broad scope and aim to publish particularly significant research A third journal BMC Research Notes publishes scientifically valid research outputs that cannot be considered as full research or methodology articles across all scientific and clinical disciplines 10 while BMC Proceedings publishes conference proceedings The other journals specialise on a particular subject area Due to their free licensing images from BMC journals can be reused in other places BMC Anesthesiology BMC Biochemistry BMC Bioinformatics BMC Biology BMC Biomedical Engineering BMC Biophysics BMC Biotechnology BMC Cancer BMC Cardiovascular Disorders BMC Chemistry BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies BMC Developmental Biology BMC Ear Nose and Throat Disorders BMC Ecology BMC Emergency Medicine BMC Endocrine Disorders BMC Evolutionary Biology BMC Family Practice BMC Gastroenterology BMC Genetics BMC Genomics BMC Geriatrics BMC Health Services Research BMC Hematology BMC Immunology BMC Infectious Diseases BMC Medical Education BMC Medical Ethics BMC Medical Genetics BMC Medical Genomics BMC Medical Imaging BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making BMC Medical Research Methodology BMC Medicine BMC Microbiology BMC Molecular Biology BMC Molecular and Cell Biology BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders BMC Nephrology BMC Neurology BMC Neuroscience BMC Nursing BMC Nutrition BMC Ophthalmology BMC Oral Health BMC Palliative Care BMC Pediatrics BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology BMC Physiology BMC Plant Biology BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth BMC Proceedings BMC Psychiatry BMC Psychology BMC Public Health BMC Pulmonary Medicine BMC Research Notes BMC Rheumatology BMC Sports Science Medicine and Rehabilitation BMC Structural Biology BMC Surgery BMC Systems Biology BMC Urology BMC Veterinary Research BMC Women s Health BMC Zoology Most BMC Series journals have an impact factor As of 2016 for the 53 journals with impact factors BMC Biology had the highest at 7 98 11 Databases EditThe company also has hosted biomedical databases including the ISRCTN registry previously Current Controlled Trials a Primary Registry of clinical trials in the WHO Registry Network 12 The Biology Image Library and the Cases Database a database of medical case reports 13 were closed in 2014 14 The company also provided hosting for institutional repositories of publications based on the DSpace platform under the brand Open Repository 15 The Open Repository activity was sold to Atmire in 2016 16 See also EditOpen Access Scholarly Publishers Association of which BioMed Central is a founding member Trials journal References Edit Interview with Vitek Tracz Essential for Science Infotoday com Retrieved 2012 03 15 Quint Barbara 7 January 2002 BioMed Central Begins Charging Authors and Their Institutions for Article Publishing Information Today Retrieved 2018 02 01 Yale Libraries Pull Out of BioMed Central Over Cost of Publication The Chronicle of Higher Education 2007 08 09 ISSN 0009 5982 Retrieved 2019 02 27 Suber Peter 2008 10 07 Peter Suber Open Access News Earlham edu Archived from the original on 2012 01 13 Retrieved 2012 03 15 HIFA Supporting Organisations HIFA2015 Archived from the original on 2014 12 08 Willighagen Egon 2021 06 11 Conflict of Interest Or why I am stepping down as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Cheminformatics doi 10 5281 ZENODO 4926031 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help Access to articles BioMed Central Retrieved 2015 11 15 Open Peer Review BMC Group ReimagineReview Retrieved 2020 02 10 The BMC series journals BioMed Central Retrieved 11 September 2012 Kruger Dirk Marshall Diana M 14 February 2017 Bite size research BMC Research Notes goes back to its roots BMC Research Notes 10 1 95 doi 10 1186 s13104 017 2418 y PMC 5307640 PMID 28193243 8 Do BioMed Central journals have Impact Factors and are they citation tracked BioMed Central Archived from the original on 2016 10 30 Retrieved 2018 01 08 Current Controlled Trials Clinical Trial Search ISRCTN numbering scheme Database of Clinical Trials Controlled trials com Retrieved 2012 03 15 Home Page Cases Database Retrieved 2014 02 15 http casesdatabase com Notice of Closure July 2014 accessed 2015 04 06 Home Open Repository Retrieved 2012 03 15 Atmire acquires Open Repository Library Technology Guides 2016 08 01 Archived from the original on 2016 10 22 Retrieved 2016 10 22 Further reading EditThis further reading section may contain inappropriate or excessive suggestions that may not follow Wikipedia s guidelines Please ensure that only a reasonable number of balanced topical reliable and notable further reading suggestions are given removing less relevant or redundant publications with the same point of view where appropriate Consider utilising appropriate texts as inline sources or creating a separate bibliography article January 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Albanese Andrew 15 March 2004 BioMed Central Changes Tack Library Journal 17 18 Archived from the original on 1 May 2005 Retrieved 17 July 2005 Amber Dave 4 September 2000 Scientists Publishers Societies and Turf The Scientist 14 17 1 Butler Declan 25 May 2000 BioMed Central Boosted by Editorial Board Nature 405 6785 384 doi 10 1038 35013218 PMID 10839505 Chillingworth Mark 9 August 2004 BioMed Central Seeks Open Access Advice Information World Review Cockerill Matthew 16 December 1999 Online Research Archive Will be Free to All Nature 402 6763 721 722 Bibcode 1999Natur 402 721C doi 10 1038 45368 PMID 10617188 Delamothe Tony 21 June 2003 2003 Fees Waived for University Researchers Publishing through BioMed Central BMJ 326 7403 1350 1351 doi 10 1136 bmj 326 7403 1350 d PMC 1151020 Archived from the original on 13 January 2006 Accessed July 17 2005 Galbraith Kate July 11 2003 British Researchers Get to Publish in 90 Online Medical Journals Free The Chronicle of Higher Education 49 44 A28 Gavaghan Helen June 30 2003 Open Access Publishing Finds Official Favor The Scientist Accessed July 17 2005 Godlee Fiona 2000 Peer Review in the E Environment Freedom of Information Conference 2000 London Archived from the original on 2004 12 29 Retrieved 2005 07 17 Loxton Liz May 1 2003 NHS Information Project Launched Information World Review MacLeod Donald June 17 2003 Publish and Be Free The Guardian Verified availability July 17 2005 Peel John February 2000 BioMed Central permanent dead link D Lib Magazine 6 2 Accessed July 17 2005 September 3 2001 BioMed Central Launches 12 New Author Initiated Research E Journals Information Today 18 9 24 25 Accessed July 17 2005 Shearer Kathleen January 2002 BioMed Central An Alternative to Scholarly Publishing CARL ABRC Backgrounder Series No 4 Ottawa Canadian Association of Research Libraries Accessed July 17 2005 Suber Peter September 6 2001 BioMed Central s Method of FOS Archived 2005 02 12 at the Wayback Machine Free Online Scholarship Newsletter Watson Linda A Ivan S Login and Jeffrey M Burns 2003 Exploring New Ways to Publish A Library Faculty Partnership Journal of the Medical Library Association 91 2 245 247 Accessed July 17 2005 Young Jeffrey R January 18 2002 Publisher of Free Online Science Journal Charges Authors a Processing Fee The Chronicle of Higher Education 48 19 A36 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to BioMed Central Official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title BioMed Central amp oldid 1115895527, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
