Finland is the first country to make a nationwide commitment to Open Access, it was announced today. All universities, polytechnics and research institutes in Finland have become BioMed Central members. The membership agreement covers the cost of publication, in BioMed Central's 100+ Open Access journals, for all 25000 publicly funded researchers and teachers in Finland.
BioMed Central agreed the membership with FinELib, the National Electronic Library of Finland. A consortium of universities, polytechnics, research institutes and regional libraries, FinELib is part of the National Library's services for libraries. FinELib acquires Finnish and international resources to support teaching, learning and research. 86 institutions from the consortium will take part in the membership deal, adding 80 new institutions to BioMed Central's membership program.
Kristiina Hormia-Poutanen, Head, National Electronic Library Services, explained why the National Electronic Library took the decision,
"The aim of FinELib is to promote access to information. Open access is an important movement to improve access to information all over the world. Open access enables the most effective distribution of research results and can have significant impact to the Finnish innovation system. FinElib is also interested in the developments in new business models which are evolving."