Palepu & Giustini. Open Medicine: One year of independent, open access scholarly publishing. BCLA Conference, Saturday, April 19, 3:45-5:00pm.

Introduction: The authors describe the launch of a new open access journal called Open Medicine (OM), conceived in response to a controversy that erupted at the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).

Methods: The OM editors used an open-access model and the UBC Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems (OJS) to launch their journal. Through the use of narrative, storytelling and blog journalism, we evaluate OM’s business and publishing plans and how these models are designed to uphold academic freedom and integrity in scientific publishing. Peer review, new publishing models, forms of copyright and the influence of pharmaceutical and medical device companies in publishing are also examined.

Results: The authors illustrate the scope of the many challenges experienced at OM in its inaugural year, progress made on a business and fundraising plan, development of a publishing schedule and indexing in PubMed. Various metrics and web statistics suggest that the OM website and blog are widely consulted.

Future directions: Open Medicine is emblematic of open-access scientific publishing with a unique mission and publishing/business models. The editors see OM as an alternative to traditional medical publishing and part of larger social movements that oppose negative influences in information dissemination.