Science funders invite applications to run UK PubMed Central

A group of major science funders in the UK are working together to establish a public access digital archive of research papers, and have today invited organisations interested in running the archive to come forward.

The group of funders, which includes the Wellcome Trust, MRC, BBSRC, the British Heart Foundation and the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) with the support of Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) want to create a permanent, freely accessible digital archive of peer-reviewed papers arising from the research they have funded.

The archive would be a UK PubMed Central, and a mirror of the US version operated by the National Library of Medicine. It would use the same software as its US counterpart and be a fully searchable facility containing all papers from both versions.

In addition, UK PubMed Central would provide links to other online resources, such as gene and chemical compound databases, enabling the integration of the published literature with the data the paper is based on.

Dr Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said:

“We are committed to achieving the maximum impact from the research we fund – that means making the findings accessible to those who most want to see them. A UK PubMed Central will give users the widest access to information with an assurance of quality. It will provide a freely-accessible archive for researchers to deposit their papers.

“This is an important step towards changing the way we routinely access scientific information.”

Prof Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said:

"The BHF supports the principle of free public access to the published research it has funded.The creation of a database containing these papers will also aid the BHF in analysing the outcomes of its research and planning future strategy.We are therefore happy to explore the possibility of setting up a UK digital archive in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust and other partners."

Those wishing to express an interest should do so by 10th June 2005 by visiting: http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/ukpmc

ENDS

Media contact

Mark Anderson – Wellcome Trust

020 7611 8612

Notes to editor:

1. The Wellcome Trust is an independent research funding charity established in 1936 under the will of the tropical medicine pioneer Sir Henry Wellcome. The Trust’s mission is to foster and promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health and it currently spends over £400 million per annum.