UC Libraries Participate In New Publishing Model

The University of Cincinnati Libraries, in concert with other OhioLINK institutions, are participating in an open-access publishing model that allows UC faculty and researchers to publish in peer-reviewed journals at no cost and provides scholars free access to this research.

This new publishing model is made possible through an agreement between OhioLINK and BioMed Central, an online publisher of open access, peer-reviewed biology and medical journals. This agreement makes all 83 OhioLINK university and college libraries, including the University of Cincinnati, institutional members of BioMed Central.

The university's institutional membership allows UC faculty and researchers to publish in BioMed Central's 100+ journals at no cost, waiving the usual article processing charges. In addition, articles by UC faculty and researchers in BioMed Central's open-access journals are freely available to the world. Open-access journals offer content free to readers, in contrast to traditional subscription-based journals that charge subscribers a fee.

"A consortial membership with BioMed Central is an innovative way to foster publication by our faculty and guarantee ready access to their research," said Victoria A. Montavon, dean and university librarian.

OhioLINK, a consortium of 83 Ohio university and college libraries plus the State Library of Ohio, sought an alternative publishing model such as BioMed Central to help address the difficulties many Ohio libraries face in maintaining journal collections negatively affected by a combination of financial constraints and the continued rising costs of journal subscriptions.

"This new arrangement with OhioLINK and BioMed Central is just one example of the many advantages UC enjoys with its involvement with OhioLINK," said Roger Guard, assistant senior vice president, Medical Center Academic Information Technology & Libraries, and associate dean, College of Medicine. "UC's membership in BioMed Central allows faculty to publish at no cost to them and for researchers to have free access to this research. It's a win-win situation."

Articles published by UC faculty and researchers are available on UC's institutional Web page located at www.biomedcentral.com/inst/47909 or via OhioLINK's Electronic Journal Center accessible at www.ohiolink.edu where all articles published by faculty from all OhioLINK institutions are included.