BMJ expands open access offering across Europe

BMJ expands open access offering across Europe with three Read and Publish agreements in France

Leading healthcare knowledge provider BMJ partners with Hospices Civils de Lyon, Université Côte d'Azur, and Université de Bordeaux to support open access publishing and advance healthcare research

June 2023—leading global healthcare knowledge provider,  BMJ, is expanding its open access offering across Europe through three Read and Publish agreements with leading institutions in France, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Université Côte d'Azur, and Université de Bordeaux. This agreement marks BMJ’s first Transitional agreements in France, building on its European Consortia deals in the UK, Sweden, Ireland and Germany.

The agreements will cover the cost of article processing charges (APCs) incurred by eligible authors when publishing in any of the BMJ Standard Collection or Gold Open Access journals, including BMJ’s flagship journal, The BMJ. This will allow affiliated corresponding authors to publish their primary research open access (OA) at no cost to them.

BMJ is a pioneer and champion of open access as a way to promote knowledge and accelerate discoveries. The company places a great deal of importance on increasing the reach and use of what we publish and is committed to innovating and advancing health research. With this expansion of this open access offering in Europe, BMJ is excited to continue providing access to quality, trusted healthcare information and supporting the scientific community to help create a healthier world. The healthcare knowledge provider is proud to partner with these prestigious institutions in France and looks forward to collaborating with them to advance the healthcare research field.

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 these three esteemed universities, all of whom collectively share the goal of supporting the scientific community to help create a healthier world." 

BMJ continues its commitment to advancing scientific discovery, having recently 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 / 27 June 2023

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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 67 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 67 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 the University of Bordeaux

Recognised for its capacity for innovation and awarded the "Initiative of Excellence" label, the University of Bordeaux regularly contributes to major scientific advances with its academic and socioeconomic partners in France and abroad. It ensures their transmission and facilitates their transfer to society, in line with its commitment to environmental and societal transitions. https://www.u-bordeaux.fr/en/

About Hospices Civils de Lyon

For over 200 years, Hospices Civils de Lyon has been serving the inhabitants of Lyon with its medical expertise. The public service values driving its staff are a guarantee that all patients will be welcomed unconditionally and, as such, benefit from the best care and innovations that this major university hospital centre has to offer. Also involved in the city's economic, social and urban development, Hospices Civils de Lyon has a history inextricably linked to that of the city and contributes to its development. Hospices Civils de Lyon is particularly at the heart of the healthcare ecosystem of Greater Lyon, one of the major biotechnology and healthcare markets in Europe. https://www.chu-lyon.fr/