BioMed Central: The future

Matthew CockerillBioMed Central Editors Day

5th May 2011

A growing portfolio

BioMed Central’s growing journal portfolio

More than 90,000 peer-reviewed OA articles published to date

215 open access journals Existing titles are growing ~20%/year Growth via new launches and acquisition

of existing titles is also accelerating 11 titles added in 2010 >20 journals will launch during 2011 Publishing team responsible for journal

development has been hugely expanded

Strengthening of portfolio helps existing titles too...

Veterinary titles at BioMed Central

2005

2006

2011

Trend in submissions to BioMed Central’s existing veterinary

titles

20062007

20082009

2010

2011(projecte

d)0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

BMC Veterinary ResearchActa Veterinaria Scandinavica

Addition of new titles in 2011 has coincided with record submissions to existing titles

Impact Factors etc…

BioMed Central journals with official impact factors

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

20

40

60

80

100

120

Impact factor tracking

23 first impact factors expected in June 2011 Latest journals to be accepted for tracking

– BMC International Health and Human Rights– Diabetology and Metabolic Syndrome– Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine– Journal of Nanobiotechnology– Journal of Ovarian Research

Journals expecting first Impact Factors in 2011

BMC Biochemistry BMC Cardiovascular Disorders BMC Complementary and

Alternative Medicine BMC Medical Education BMC Nephrology BMC Ophthalmology BMC Pediatrics BMC Veterinary Research Cardiovascular Ultrasound Cell Communication and

Signaling Cell Division Epigenetics & Chromatin

Frontiers in Zoology Harm Reduction Journal Human Resources for Health International Journal for Equity

in Health Journal of Inflammation Journal of the International

Society for Sports Nutrition Nutrition Journal Particle and Fibre Toxicology Scandinavian Journal of Trauma,

Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine

Theoretical Biology and Medical Modelling

World Journal of Surgical Oncology

Thomson Reuters - SCI vs SCIE All BioMed Central journals to date have been tracked in SCIE

rather than SCI Thomson Reuters initially denied it was meaningful But many countries including South Korea deem SCI inclusion

is deemed vital Thomson has agreed to move the following journals to the SCI:

– BMC Evolutionary Biology– BMC Systems Biology– Breast Cancer Research– Genome Biology

Further decisions pending…

– Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

– Malaria Journal– Neural Development– Retrovirology

Manuscript transfer tools

Manuscript transfers

Ability to efficiently transfer manuscripts and reviews between journals

Avoiding wasting reviewer and author time/effort

Solves dilemma for editors seeking to improve impact factor of journal, but also wanting to deliver good service to authors

Allows publishable research to be redirected to a more suitable outlet

Manuscript transfers (contd...)

Model plays an important role at BioMed Central

Especially valuable for high-end titles Several hundred authors offered

transfers each month (over half accept) PLoS One has brought model to wider

attention Many other publishers now operating

similar systems

Manuscript transfers (contd…)

Possible uses Transfer less interesting research to

BMC Research Notes Transfer case reports to Journal of

Medical Case Reports Transfer out of scope research to

another independent title, or to a BMC series journal

Manuscript transfers (contd...)

Current model BMC staff use in house tool to offer transfers, and to

action the transfer if the author accepts the offer Correspondence with independent journal editors re:

transfer recommendations is ad hoc, via emailFuture model Manuscript decision page used by editors will include

option to highlight a rejected manuscript as suitable for transfer (and optionally to recommend a possible title for the transfer)

Increased convenience for independent journals which choose to offer or receive transfers

Being part of Springer

Timeline

Oct 2008 BioMed Central acquired by Springer

Mar 2009 BioMed Central moves to new offices on Gray’s Inn Road

Oct-Dec 2009 Springer UK and Springer Healthcare join BMC at Gray’s Inn Road

Dec 2009 Springer acquired by EQT

Springer’s strategy for growth

Open Access Growth in emerging markets eBooks

Open Access at Springer

+

Operates on BioMed Central platform Launched mid-2010 Portfolio already includes 45 journals

– New launches– Conversion of existing Springer titles– 11 titles acquired from Hindawi

Reflects Springer’s strategic commitment– to open access model– to ongoing development and improvement

of BioMed Central platform

Technical development: new journal websites

More than 100 BioMed Central journals and 45 SpringerOpen titles are now on new journal platform

Remaining journals and BioMed Central / Chemistry Central portals are in final stages of testing

Additional performance tuning being done to ensure optimal site performance

Technical challenges

Complex technical projects are tough to manage

Also note easy to recruit/retain developers in UK

Timezones/language barriers can make it difficult to work with remote development teams

Two key new hires

Chief Technical OfficerMike Nuttall (doctors.net)

Head of Publishing TechnologyDuncan Fraser (IHS,Elsevier)

Reliability and performance

Just as important as developing new features, is to ensure existing sites are– Reliable– Fast– Scale to cope with major increase in volume

Dedicated IT Ops team focused on these goals

Automated tests and metrics give good data on progress in this area

Improving performance for international downloads

0,000ms

2,000ms

4,000ms

6,000ms

8,000ms

10,000ms

12,000ms

14,000ms

16,000ms

18,000ms

20,000ms

Download time for 8MB PDF file, measured from New York

Improved config rolled out on May 3rd 2011

Workflow 2.0 project

Major improvements to the back end tools used by BioMed Central and its editors to manage journals

Workflow 2.0 - Why? Reduce the need for training

– make systems more intuitive Simplify user journeys

– information presented on fewer pages– multiple entry points to the same information

Improve efficiency of tools to cope with growing journals– more manuscripts, more journals, more people

Highlight manuscripts needing attention Incorporate suggestions from editors

– Including both independent journal editors, BMC series section editors, and in house editors

Workflow 2.0 - How?

Draw on internal expertise and with the external design agency with expertise in “information architecture”

Use a single point of contact, Product Manager

Look at information architecture and design/usability of entire system, from the ground up

Invite feedback from Editors early and often

Workflow 2.0 - Who?

Agency – Mark Boulton Design Workflow design group Technical implementation group Internal stakeholders External Editors

New functionality

• Editor’s dashboard• Flexible task lists• Watched manuscript lists• Improved handling of notes• Email authors / editors directly from Workflow• Editor’s reports• Editor’s administration area• Enhanced peer-reviewer database

Workflow 2.0Preview of design mockups

Timeframe

Design phase– Due to be complete by end of Q2 2011

Implementation phase– Planning has already commenced– Implementation to commence at end of Q2– Iterative approach to development and user testing– Define phased implementation plan, to realize key

benefits as early as possible– Initial release early 2012

Emerging markets

Making the most of Springer’s global presence

China/Hong Kong Three BioMed Central staff focused on

marketing/advocacy Additional editorial acquisitions/development editor

position now being recruitedJapan Newly hired BioMed Central staff member focused on

marketing/advocacyAdditional hiring planned: India South Korea

Singapore (new Springer office) USA

Manuscript submissions from China

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Other countries 91 1177 1441 3246 6765 10507 14649 17149 21326 26876 33149 38794.86144398

64

China 0 8 12 27 103 241 532 807 1428 2432 4181 5565

2500

7500

12500

17500

22500

27500

32500

37500

42500

47500

China top journalsTop journals 2009 2010 %ge

BMC Cancer 226 349 +54%

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research

185 320 +73%

Virology Journal 46 203 +341%

BMC Genomics 144 168 +17%

Molecular Cancer 84 146 +74%

BMC Bioinformatics 103 124 +20%

Journal of Biomedical Science 80 116 +45%

BMC Plant Biology 74 111 +50%

BMC Public Health 71 106 +49%

Genome Biology 75 99 +32%

Journal projects in China

Cell and Bioscience(Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America)www.cellandbioscience.com

Cell Regeneration (Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health) www.cellregenerationjournal.com

Gigascience (BGI data-driven journal) And more in discussion…

India top journals

Top journals 2009 2010 %ge

Journal of Biomedical Science 65 105 +62%

Journal of Medical Case Reports 61 60 -2%

Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research

27 58 +115%

Italian Journal of Pediatrics 11 43 +291%

Malaria Journal 20 36 +80%

BMC Bioinformatics 30 33 +10%

BMC Genomics 34 31 -9%

BMC Plant Biology 20 31 +55%

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

22 29 +32%

Molecular Cancer 13 28 +115%

Open Access Africa

African internet connectivity is improving dramatically

Open Data

Open Data

Open Data journal projects

Gigasciencein collaboration with BGI

Journal of Network Biology in collaboration with SAGE

Open Research Computation BMC Research Notes

Publishing Open Data Working Group