Progress report on an OA medical journal

Sandeep B. Bavdekar and D.R. Sahu, Path of Progress: Report of an Eventful Year for the Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, 51, 1 (2005) pp. 5-8. How OA has transformed a local journal into an international one. Excerpt: 'The [OA] experiment has been immensely successful. The journal has grown in its reach, its popularity and its depth as can be seen from the upsurge in the number of submissions to the Journal [Figure - 1], rising citations received by published articles [Table - 1], [Table - 2] and growing numbers of web-site visitors [Figure - 2]. JPGM has shown that it is possible for journals in developing countries to implement, adhere to and sustain open access policies without losing on the paid subscriptions to the print version. More important, for journals with a small print circulation, open access acts as a boon allowing them to reach scientists in countries far and wide. There are additional gains too. By March 2005, close to 80% of the articles published in JPGM in the year 2002 (excluding Letters to editor and Images), have been cited by scientists. In addition, the number of citations received by the articles published in the journal has increased manifold [Table - 1]. The articles published in the journal are being quoted in the year of publication itself more frequently than ever before [Table - 2]. These are encouraging signs for smaller journals from developing countries. They demonstrate that not only are the articles published in the journal being read, but are also being cited.'