Finland is the first country to make a nationwide commitment to Open Access

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."

Finland's decision represents a landmark in the move towards Open Access for all biomedical research. BioMed Central, the largest Open Access publisher, has seen their membership program go from strength to strength. Over 300 institutions worldwide became members in 2003. These included the NHS in England and all UK universities, all institutions in Ohio, USA, 18 institutions in Australia, and the Max Planck Society. BioMed Central now has 500 member institutions in 39 countries.

Natasha Robshaw, Head of Marketing and Sales at BioMed Central, said:

"We are very excited to welcome FinELib on board as members. Finland is leading the world in its nationwide commitment to Open Access, and this is a huge boost for the Open Access movement. We look forward to other nations making the same strides to support making research findings freely available."