Epilepsia has just announced their policy reflecting the National Institutes of Health Open Access Policy.
Kudos to Editors Philip A. Schwartzkroin and Simon D. Shorvon for an informative introductory paragraph that stats the purpose of the NIH and Wellcome Trust policies:
Last spring, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a new mandatory Public Access Policy (http://grants.nih.gov.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-08-033.html) that applies to final peer-reviewed manuscripts accepted for publication on or after April 7, 2008 (NIH). A similar policy had been announced earlier by the UK funding agency, the Wellcome Trust, applying to all research papers from October 1, 2006. These policies are designed to make published research that is funded by NIH and the Wellcome Trust accessible to everyone.
From: Editorial Public (open) access policy. Epilepsia 49:8 (August 2008). Caution: toll-access only at Epilepsia.
In response, Epilepsia will deposit all articles in PMC immediately on publication in PMC, for public access 12 months after publication. To meet the conditions of Wellcome Trust, Epilepsia requires payment of the Wiley Online Open fee. For a brief critique of the Wiley Online Open Fee, which appears to include print-based costs - click here.
Epilepsia authors note: the majority of open access journals do not charge article processing fees. Of those that do, many charge much less than the Wiley Online Open fee. Here is a link to the Neurology section of the Directory of Open Access Journals, currently 54 fully open access journals in this section alone. Or, go to the DOAJ Author Search. To view traditional journals with author-friendly self-archiving policies, go to the Sherpa RoMEO Publishing Policies and Self-Archiving page. Note: be sure to look for a publisher that allows deposit in disciplinary archives, such as PubMedCentral, not institutional repositories only.
Hat tip to Peter Suber on Open Access News.
Update Sept 1: Jim Till on Be Openly Accessible or Be Obscure notes that Epilepsia was already making all articles freely available after 12 months. This move will enhance accessibility by direct linking through PubMed, but makes no difference in access to Epilepsia articles.
