Publishers of six major medical journals announced July 9 that they will provide free or discounted electronic access to about 1,000 research publications to public institutions in low-income countries.
Elsevier Science, Springer Verlag, Wolters Kluwer, Harcourt General, Blackwell, and John Wiley will give free access to medical schools, researchers, and government health departments in countries with a gross national product of less than $1,000 per capita and at a reduced rate to those in nations with per-capita GNP between $1,000 and $3,000, the Boston Globe reported July 10. However, the offer won’t extend to some of the countries hardest hit by AIDS, such as South Africa and Botswana, because their per-capita GNP is greater than $3,000.
Barbara Aronson, collection-development librarian for the World Health Organization, who is helping organize the program, said, “All of a sudden what has become a closed rich boy’s club is now welcoming in scientists in poor countries. Even those scientists out in the bush can now e-mail the publications or the scientist and say, ‘You got any more on this?’ or, ‘This is what I’ve found out here.’ It opens up the world to them.”
Access will begin in January and is expected to continue at least three years, when the publishers will decide whether to continue.
Posted July 16, 2001.