*with apologies for cross posting*

BIOCHEMICAL JOURNAL

PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY

At the 111th annual meeting of the full Editorial Board of the Biochemical
Journal on 18 March 2005, it was announced that papers accepted for
publication in the Biochemical Journal will be deposited automatically in
PubMed Central (PMC), the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free
digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature, 6
months after the publication date of the issue.

Authors will not have to expend additional time and effort on the
deposition process themselves. The authentic, final copy-edited version of
Authors' articles will be placed in PubMed Central without the need for
further work from them.

This significant benefit is in addition to the fast and thorough peer
review, fast time from acceptance to publication and high visibility of the
Biochemical Journal.

Professor George Banting (Bristol), Chairman of the Editorial Board,
said “this policy will provide an additional and independent secure online
archive for the Journal and serve to reinforce the Journal’s role as a
major vehicle in the global communication of science”.

Rhonda Oliver, Managing Director of Portland Press Ltd, commented that  "As
the Journal looks forward to celebrating 100 years of scientific excellence
in 2006, this policy will strike a balance between the demands for greater
public accessibility and providing the financial sustainability to secure
the continuity of the scientific record for its next 100 years”.

Notes:

1. The Biochemical Journal (www.biochemj.org) will be celebrating its
centenary in 2006. Time for first decision ~ 4 weeks for full papers, ~2
weeks for Accelerated Publications. Time from acceptance to publication ~9
weeks online for full papers and ~6 weeks online for Accelerated
Publications.
2. Accepted papers are published online as pdfs within 5 minutes of
acceptance as Immediate Publications (IMPs). IMPs are freely available to
anyone with internet access anywhere in the world.
3. The Biochemical Journal is published by Portland Press Limited
(www.portlandpress.com), the wholly owned publishing subsidiary of the
Biochemical Society. The publishing proceeds from the Journal are returned
by gift-aid to the Biochemical Society (www.biochemistry.org) to enable it
to carry out its mission to communicate biochemistry internationally.
4. For further information contact editorial@portlandpress.com
Biochemical Journal, 3rd Floor, Eagle House, 16 Procter Street, London WC1V
6NX, UK
5. PubMed Central (www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov).