Have you been hearing about BioMed Central, thinking about taking advantage of free publishing, but are concerned about the quality of the publications? How can you tell whether they are worthwhile? The usual criteria can be applied:
- Who are the editors and reviewers?
- Where are the journals indexed?
- Are they being included for citation indexing & impact factors?
- Who is publishing in these journals?
- Are other Jeffersonians adopting this publishing path?
- Without print subscriptions, will my article get decent exposure?
BioMed Central provides free and open access to over 60 journals in the health and life sciences fields. These are new journals, published in a new, all-electronic manner. All research articles are fully peer-reviewed. The first issues of some journals appeared in 2000, but most of them were just getting off the ground in 2001. Articles appear as soon as they are accepted for publication.
Who are the editors and reviewers?
Editors and reviewers have been chosen for academic expertise. BMC’s policy is that “At least three members of each editorial board must be grantees of major funding organizations in order to act as the official guarantors for the scientific and ethical standards of the journal.” You can check on the credentials and publishing record of the editor and the editorial board. Contact the Reference Desk at Scott Library if you need some assistance with this.
Where are the journals indexed?
Indexing is critical for scholarly exposure. PubMed, the most widely-used index of medical literature, covers all of the BioMed Central journals. Chemical Abstracts Services (CAS) also covers all BMC titles. BIOSIS, MEDLINE, Web of Science and other services have been picking up BMC titles selectively. BioMed Central provides a list of the journals indexed by each major database for you to review.
Are the journals being included for citation indexing & impact factors?
Journals have to become well established before ISI will select them for inclusion in its citation indexes and impact calculations. As more of the journals are establishing a track record, ISI is picking them up. Four BMC titles were included in the 2002 Journal Citation Report (the most recent available), and 19 titles are currently indexed for ISI databases, so will appear in the 2003 Journal Citation Report.
Of the 4 tracked in 2002, impact factors and ranking reflect the youth of the publications. These are expected to rise over time:
- BMC Cancer was ranked 91 of 113 in the Oncology category, with an impact factor of 1.050.
- BMC Health Services Research was ranked 52 of 53 in the Health Care Sciences and Services category, with an impact factor of 0.083.
- BMC Infectious Diseases was ranked 34 of 38 in the Infectious Diseases category, with an impact factor of 0.958.
- BMC Public Health was ranked 87 or 90 in the Public, Environmental & Occupational Health category, with an impact factor of 0.294.
Who is publishing in these journals? Are other Jeffersonians adopting this publishing path?
As with any journal, the credentials of the authors are included with each article. BMC makes it easy for you to see which of your Jefferson colleagues have chosen to publish, and in which journals. If you visit the main BioMed Central site from a campus computer, you will be greeted with:
Welcome to BioMed Central
Thomas Jefferson University users - access your journals here
View articles by your authors in our journals
Clicking the View articles link produces a bibliography of all Jefferson contributions.
If you visit our Jefferson homepage within BioMed Central, the list is provided immediately.
Track how many people read your article
Log into My BioMed Central to see the number of times your article has been viewed or downloaded.
Without print subscriptions, will my article get decent exposure?
A few BioMed Central journals do have print versions, but most are only available electronically. BMC provides a service that allows you to see how many times people have viewed or downloaded your article. To use it, you need to register for “My BioMed Central.” There is no fee for this service.
Related Links:
