The Public Library of Science (PLoS) has announced plans for its sixth, peer-reviewed, open access journal -- PLoS Clinical Trials.
Open access publisher PLoS has issued a call for papers for its next new journal title - PLoS Clinical Trials - scheduled to debut in March 2006. According to the press release, "The journal differs from other medical journals in one crucial respect. It will publish all trials that are ethically and scientifically sound and entered into an internationally accepted registry, regardless of the trial's size or whether the results are positive or negative."
Like other open access journals from PLoS, the newest title will be available to readers without a subscription. Publication costs are paid partly by the authors of the research papers. The principle behind this model is that scientific findings should be available for all to read without the barriers caused by subscription fees and tolls charged by more traditional publishing models.
The intent of PLoS Clinical Trials is described in an editorial published this week in PLoS Medicine. The full text of the article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020367