UK PubMed Central

UK PubMed Central (UKPMC) is now live and freely available at: http://ukpmc.ac.uk

"Based on PubMed Central (PMC), the U.S. National Institutes of Health free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature, UKPMC provides a stable, permanent, and free-to-access online digital archive of full-text, peer-reviewed research publications."

This may be important to Biology and Biochemistry and Pharmacy and Pharmacology because of the positions on open access publishing which were adopted last year by three of the major biomedical funding bodies, as below. [NB The University is also planning to set up a repository for its academic output.]

"For applications submitted from 1 October 2006 the MRC requires that electronic copies of any research papers accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, which are supported in whole or in part by MRC funding, are deposited at the earliest opportunity - and certainly within six months - in UK PubMed Central (UKPMC)."

"From 1 October 2006, BBSRC will require a copy of any resulting published journal article or conference proceedings to be deposited, at the earliest opportunity, in an appropriate e-print repository, wherever such a repository is available."

"The Wellcome Trust requires electronic copies of any research papers that have been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and are supported in whole or in part by Wellcome Trust funding, to be deposited into PubMed Central (PMC) or UK PMC once established, to be made freely available as soon as possible and in any event within six months of the journal publisher's official date of final publication"