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Medical Association Journal
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BMJ on PubMed Central
In January, the British Medical Journal became the world's first general medical journal available online at PubMed Central, the repository for reports in the life sciences that is sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health. The site can be accessed without restriction for free. Only BMJ's scientific papers will appear here; the full journal and extras such as rapid-response letters will continue to appear on the BMJ site. In a Jan. 6 editorial, the BMJ editors state: "We want to align ourselves with an initiative which, if successful, will benefit science and so clinical medicine and patient care" (2001:322:1-2). Others have reservations. The Annals of Internal Medicine (2000;133:841-4) recently explored issues underlying opposition, including publishers' fears about undermining their subscription base. Journals currently posting their content on PubMed Central include Breast Cancer Research and journals published by a new electronic publisher, BioMed Central. CMAJ has already offered support for the initiative (CMAJ 2000;162[4]:481; and expects to post research articles on the PubMed site later this year. CMAJ has been available in full text online, with no access barriers, since July 1999. — Alison Sinclair, CMAJ
Copyright 2001 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors |
