BioMed Central Brings Open Access Publishing to Physics and Maths

Launched to meet the increasing need for open access journals from major research institutes (such as CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and other funding organizations and government bodies, PhysMath Central seeks to make research in physics, mathematics and computer science more widely available and increase access to this research to all institutes and individuals, free of subscription charges.

The PhysMath Central publishing platform is based on the successful open access publishing model pioneered by BioMed Central. PhysMath Central will launch with three new open access journals in physics:

·PMC Physics A – covers particle, high-energy and nuclear physics, cosmology, gravity and astroparticle physics, and instrumentation and data analysis.
·PMC Physics B – publishes articles covering all aspects of atomic and molecular physics, optics, quantum physics, semiconductors and superconductivity.

·PMC Physics C – focuses on soft matter physics and covers biological physics, complex systems, plasmas and fluids, classical and interdisciplinary physics, and statistical mechanics.

These three titles will begin accepting submissions in April, 2007. Four more journals in physics and mathematics are planned for launch in 2007, with others to follow in the future.

PhysMath Central is currently recruiting some of the leading minds in physics and mathematics for its editorial boards. These experts will spearhead journal development and serve as editors and reviewers. Massimo Giovannini of the Theoretical Physics Division at CERN has agreed to serve on the PMC Physics A editorial board. Dr. Giovannini expressed support for open access publishing, citing the high subscription fees as a hindrance to scientific progress.

“I am happy to be working with PhysMath Central,” Dr. Giovannini said. “It is a noble endeavour to allow free access to our peer-reviewed research. This aim is desirable since various institutions in the world cannot afford the subscription fees required by other journals.”

Christopher Leonard, PhysMath Central’s publisher, fully agrees, “Over 50 years ago one of our greatest ever physicists, Albert Einstein, almost predicted the open access era when he said that ‘The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of life.’ We recognize, as he did, that the lack of access to the latest research slows the process of discovery and that by making the research freely available we help to solve this problem, ensuring the swift and unrestricted communication of scientific information.”