Scholarly Communication : Open Access : Open access one of the breakthroughs of the year. Open access is one of the "Breakthroughs of the Year" and "Areas to Watch in 2004" according to the editors of Science. See their list of breakthroughs and areas to watch in the December 19 issue (accessible only to subscribers and registered users). Excerpt:

Open sesame. Will 2004 be the year scientists open their hearts --and their wallets-- to open-access scientific journals? A slew of publishers will launch experiments in which authors will pay publication charges and journals will make their papers freely accessible over the Internet. Advocates say that the author-pays approach will speed the flow of scientific information, but critics predict that the business model will be a flop, particularly outside the relatively flush biomedical sciences.

Also see Science's press release on the breakthroughs. For further reading, the editors link to five previous Science articles on open access and Open Access News. [Open Access News]

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