Open access approach to medical research publishing will continue to grow, experts predict

An online, open access approach to publishing scientific and medical research is proving successful and will continue to develop, MPs have been told.

Experts in publishing who were giving evidence to the parliamentary science and technology select committee on 23 May said that the approach used by Public Library of Science (PLoS) One—an online, open access journal for the communication of peer reviewed scientific and medical research—was being increasingly adopted by other organisations.

PLoS One and others such as the BMJ, which had followed its example, were speeding up research and enabling more research to be published, MPs were told as part of their inquiry into peer review.

The committee asked how much faster the PLoS website was …