Scholarly Communications News

Significant revisions were made to the NIH Public Access Policy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page on May 2, 2008. The revisions were intended to provide additional clarity on the compliance process and do not point to any changes in the policy itself. Among the changes are clarification about the PMCID number and who should submit the paper in the event of multiple authors. For a list of the new changes and revisions, consult the information provided by SPARC.

Ira Flatow of NPR's "Science Friday" talked with former NIH director Harold Varmus, a leading proponent of open access to research and one of the founders of the Public Library of Science, an open-access scientific journal. The original broadcast was Friday, April 11, 2008.

The annual survey of periodical prices has been published in Library Journal. The survey found that prices of subscription-based journals increased nine to ten percent for 2008 and similar increases can be expected for 2009. In the related commentary, Lee Van Orsdel and Kathleen Born highlight the events of the past year that have impacted journal publishing.