Springer Science and Business Media agreed in October to acquire the BioMed Central Group, a pioneering global open access publisher. BioMed Central was launched in May 2000 as an independent, for profit, publisher committed to providing free access to peer reviewed biological and medical research. It is the largest open access provider in the world with more than 180 peer reviewed journals. Biomed Central’s publisher, Matthew Cockerill assured editors that a board of trustees "will continue to safeguard BioMed Central's open access policy." Springer "has been notable . . . for its willingness to experiment with open access publishing," he said. (www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=open-access-publisher-biomed-centra-2008-10-07, 7 Oct 2008, “Open access publisher BioMed Central sold to Springer”)
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