Blackwell Publishing releases first online open articles

Open access has hit the big time. Blackwells have announced their online open service whereby authors can pay for their journal articles to be freely available to readers.
These aren't obscure backyard journals either, these are 79 well-received Blackwells journals, many of which the library takes in print and online like Cellular Microbiology, Journal of Applied Microbiology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology and more (full list on the press release).
While the paradigm of authors paying to publish is a significant change, Blackwells claim that in fields such as genetics, open access "not only provides rapid communication of scientific data, but also allows scientists throughout the world, particularly researchers with more limited libraries, to participate on the cutting edge of their field.” This is a Wellcome Trust approved system, and as such authors are eligible to receive funding from the Trust.

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/press/pressitem.asp?ref=589&site=1

Online Open is on trial as an author-pays service through to the end of 2006. During the trial period, the Online Open fee is fixed at US$2500, €1850 or £1250 (plus VAT where applicable).

"All Online Open articles are treated in the same way as any other article. They go through the journal’s standard peer-review process and will be accepted or rejected based on their own merit. The accepted articles are prepared for publication in the usual manner and are posted online on Blackwell Synergy with the full range of features associated with that journal. The articles are archived for perpetuity and are registered at relevant Abstracting and Indexing Services and at CrossRef. Blackwell Publishing will also deposit the final text of the article on publication with PubMed Central (PMC) on behalf of the author."