BMJ signs its first Read and Publish agreement in the U.S.

BMJ signs its first Read and Publish agreement in the U.S.

BMJ has announced the expansion of its open access offering to include an exclusive 'Read and Publish agreement' with Michigan State University Libraries. 

6 March 2023—Leading global healthcare knowledge provider, BMJ, has entered into its first Read and Publish agreement in the United States with Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries. The agreement allows MSU's affiliated corresponding authors to publish their primary research open access (OA) at no cost to them. The fees for publishing their work OA will be covered centrally by MSU Libraries. MSU is a global university and a land grant institution ranked as one of North America's top public universities.

This agreement allows customers to access BMJ Premier Collection journals, The BMJ, and BMJ Case Reports. It covers the cost of article processing charges (APCs) incurred by their eligible authors when publishing in any of the BMJ Premier or BMJ Gold OA titles, The BMJ, or BMJ Case Reports.

Allison Lang, Publishing Director at BMJ, said: "As a pioneer and champion of open access, BMJ continually looks for new ways to support the research community through our Read and Publish agreements. We will continue to provide access to quality, trusted healthcare information and support open access publishing.

“This agreement is another step forward in further transitioning research to open access to make it widely visible and accessible to support improvements in policy and practice. Additionally, we are delighted to partner with MSU, with whom we share the goal of supporting the scientific community to help create a healthier world." 

Susan Kendall, Head of Collections Strategies at MSU Libraries said: "This agreement with BMJ is an important one for health sciences at MSU.  We believe that, by providing unlimited open access publishing in all BMJ journals, we provide opportunities for the work of MSU’s researchers and healthcare professionals to have the greatest impact for the widest community possible, which fits well with our mission to ‘advance knowledge and transform lives’."

BMJ continues its commitment to advancing scientific discovery, it has also renewed all existing Read and Publish deals, flipped its first transformative journal, Evidence Based Medicine Mental Health, to open access, now called BMJ Mental Health; and launched two new open access journals, BMJ Oncology and BMJ Public Health.

Immediate release / 6 March 2023  

About BMJ

As a global healthcare knowledge provider, BMJ publishes one of the world's top five most cited general medical journals, The BMJ, and over 65 specialty journals. The organisation also offers digital professional development courses and clinical decision support tools to help health professionals improve the quality of healthcare delivery. Explore more about BMJ: bmj.com/company

BMJ is a pioneer and champion of open access. We support and promote a future built on the principle of unrestricted access to medical research outputs, which encourages proper scientific discourse and debate and, in turn, facilitates further medical advances. 

Increased access to and use of medical and scientific research through open access will create a global healthcare system shaped by better evidence. This new contract will benefit patients, health professionals, policymakers, and the public. 

About BMJ Journals 

BMJ Journals has over 60 medical and allied science titles within its portfolio. The collection is published by BMJ, the global healthcare knowledge provider and pioneer in developing open access.

The momentum around open access is building. Today, over one-third of BMJ's journal collection is wholly open access, and all research is open access in the flagship title and one of the top four most cited general medical journals in the world, The BMJ.

Most BMJ's journals have migrated to 'Transformative Journal' status. This movement aligns with BMJ's goal to transition all research it publishes to open access. 

Also, as a signatory to the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), BMJ fully supports the need to use a broad range of metrics to assess research published in journals. https://journals.bmj.com

About Michigan State University

MSU has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for over 165 years. As a top global university, MSU ranks 31 of all public universities in North America. Thirty-eight of its programs are ranked within the top 25 nationally. MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better world while providing students life-changing opportunities.