The international medical publisher BMJ Group

has launched six specialty editions of its innovative online journal BMJ

Open (bmjopen.com/editions) to coincide with Open Access Week.*

The editions showcase BMJ Open’s

specialist research, and will initially cover dermatology, HIV/AIDS, infectious

diseases, neurology, obstetrics & gynaecology, and oncology.
 
BMJ Open,

which launched in February 2011, is BMJ Group’s first online general medical

journal dedicated solely to publishing open access research.
 
All its research, supplementary files, and peer

reviewers' reports are fully and openly available online. Underlying data,

where available, is linked to in open repositories, such as Dryad.

To date, BMJ Open has published more than 600 original research

papers and protocols, many of which have attracted considerable attention from

academics, healthcare professionals, and the media.
 
High impact studies have included a technique to

pick up outbreaks of hospital acquired infections more quickly from Oxford

University; the potential link between sleeping pills and cancer from

California’s Scripps Clinic; and unique research on the wellbeing and quality

of life of people with locked-in syndrome in France.

Commenting on the launch of the new editions, BMJ Open’s Editor

in Chief, Dr Trish Groves said: “BMJ Open has grown rapidly in reputation and

content, and we're delighted to be able to increase still further the

visibility of the journal's specialty research in these new editions.”
 
She added: “The title is now a natural home for

open access medical research from all fields."
 
Contact:
Stephanie Burns, BMJ Group Press Office, London,

UK
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7383 6920
Email: sburns@bmjgroup.com
 
Notes for editors:

*Open Access Week (Oct 22-28) is a global event now in its sixth year, which

offers an opportunity for academics and researchers to learn about the

potential benefits of open access, share what they’ve learned with colleagues,

and help make open access common practice in scholarship and research.
http://www.openaccessweek.org/page/about