An open access online journal from the Public Library of Science; first issue October 2003

ISSN 1544 9173 http://www.plosbiology.org/

Rating:

What an extraordinary time it is in scientific and medical publishing. These pages and many others have documented the increasing tension between traditional publishers and their audience in recent years. The essence of the problem is that readers have become dependent on easy-to-search, universally accessible electronic archives, which are owned by publishers, unlike old printed copies. If institutions stop current subscriptions, they also lose access to old issues. Publishers therefore seem to be free to charge what they like for access—and there is a perception that …