Three research organizations who are major funders of biomedical research have announced their intention to create a top-tier open access e-journal. Yesterday the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Max Planck Society and Wellcome Trust proclaimed their plan for a new journal to publish the best research in the biomedical and life sciences. The journal, as yet unnamed, will exist only online and employ an “open and transparent” peer review system. As an open access journal it will be free to readers anywhere. The first issue is expected in 2012. The announcement makes no such claims, but reads as if this new journal is intended to compete in terms of impact and prestige with Nature and Science.
From the announcement:
“The three research organizations developed their plans following a workshop in 2010 at HHMI’s Janelia Farm Research Campus attended by a number of leading scientists. The participants concluded that there was a need for a model of academic publishing that better suits the needs of the research community.” [Emphasis added]
