Press release

Wellcome Library launches open access fund for Library users

The Wellcome Library today launched an open access fund to enable users to publish their papers, monographs and book chapters in open access form.

Anyone with peer-reviewed work accepted for publication that draws significantly on the Library’s collections is eligible, if they do not already have access to funds to make their publication open access.

The work of researchers who use the Wellcome Library collections is as diverse as the Library’s contents, which range from ancient Egyptian papyrus prescriptions to the latest digital biomedical images and together make up the one of the world's most comprehensive resources for the history of health and medicine. Too often, however, authors simply do not have the means to share their research with the widest possible readership.

Publications made open access through this fund will be deposited in Europe PubMed Central, which receives 35,000 daily visitors.Open access research can be freely read by anyone, is disseminated further and is downloaded more frequently.By covering the publication costs, the Library will allow many researchers of the history of medicine to find new audiences for their work.

The Wellcome Library is part of the Wellcome Trust, which has required its grantholders to make their research papers open access since 2005. This policy has recently been widened to include monographs and book chapters. The Wellcome Library Open Access fund is a voluntary scheme that stems from the same set of ideals, extending the commitment of the Trust to open access and the free circulation of knowledge and ideas.

Simon Chaplin, Head of the Wellcome Library, says “We are keen to see Library users take full advantage of the greater visibility and reach offered by open access publication. In supporting them through our new Fund, we hope to showcase the extraordinary range and quality of research inspired by the Wellcome Library’s collections.”

Potential applicants will find more information on the Wellcome Library website.

About the Wellcome Library

The Wellcome Library is one of the world's leading libraries of medical history, housing 2.5million items of extraordinary range and diversity, and a growing collection of contemporary biomedical information resources relating to consumer health, popular science, biomedical ethics and the public understanding of science. The Library is situated within Wellcome Collection, the free visitor destination for the incurably curious. The Wellcome Library is part of the Wellcome Trust.

About Wellcome Collection

Located at 183 Euston Road, London, Wellcome Collection explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. Wellcome Collection is growing. Exciting new galleries and spaces and expanded Library facilities will open in autumn 2014 as part of a £17.5m development.

About the Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust's breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests.