APPENDIX 4
Memorandum from Professor Neil H Mendelson,
University of Arizona
I am happy to support Open Access publishing
as practiced by BioMed Central and others.
When Dr H Varmus was then head of the US National
Institutes of Health proposed the establishment of such ventures
I strongly supported his proposal for the reasons enumerated in
the attached letter written in 1999 (Annex).
My focus in the letter to Dr Varmus was on the
benefits to be gained from the perspective of an author. Open
access publication does play another significant role from the
perspective of the consumer. Indeed the Internet has made it possible
for anyone anywhere to access information, and scientific information
is definitely an important part of the spectrum. I have published
several papers with BioMed Central and have found the process
to be on a par in every respect with the leading journals in my
area of specialization. Yes there is still room for improvement
but their open access model is definitely a step in the right
direction.
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