Overview and Size of PubMed Central
- PubMed Central (PMC) is a free digital repository for open access scholarly articles in biomedical and life sciences journals.
- PMC is developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
- Submissions to PMC are indexed and formatted for enhanced metadata, medical ontology, and unique identifiers.
- Content within PMC can be linked to other NCBI databases and accessed via Entrez search and retrieval systems.
- PMC is distinct from PubMed, which is a searchable database of biomedical citations and abstracts.
- As of December 2018, PMC contains over 5.2 million articles.
- Contributions to PMC come from publishers or authors depositing their manuscripts per the NIH Public Access Policy.
- From January 2013 to January 2014, author-initiated deposits exceeded 103,000 papers in a 12-month period.
- PMC identifies about 4,000 journals that participate in depositing their content.
- Some publishers have embargo periods before releasing articles on PMC.
History and Adoption of PubMed Central
- PubMed Central began as E-biomed, proposed by Harold Varmus in May 1999.
- The idea was inspired by the use of arXiv for preprints.
- The goal of E-biomed was to provide free access to all biomedical research.
- The proposal faced opposition from commercial publishers.
- The revised PubMed Central proposal received support from publishers and led to the creation of CrossRef and the DOI system.
- Launched in February 2000, PMC has grown rapidly.
- The NIH Public Access Policy aims to make NIH-funded research freely accessible.
- Many publishers are working cooperatively with the NIH to provide free access to their works.
- The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 required the NIH to modify its policies.
- The adoption of PMC has increased the availability of free access to biomedical research.
Role and Function of PubMed Central
- PMC serves as a digital archive of full articles accessible to anyone.
- It provides a platform for sharing and discovering biomedical knowledge.
- PMC facilitates linking to other resources and databases.
- The repository enhances metadata and medical ontology for each article.
- PMC is an example of systematic external distribution by a third party.
Technology and Workflow of PubMed Central
- Publishers send articles to PubMed Central in XML or SGML format, using various article DTDs.
- Received articles are converted to the NLM Archiving and Interchange DTD via XSLT.
- Graphics are converted to standard formats and sizes.
- Bibliographic citations are parsed and automatically linked to relevant resources.
- An in-house indexing system provides search capability and is aware of medical terminology.
Impact and Related Resources of PubMed Central
- Reactions to PubMed Central vary among the scholarly publishing community.
- Some view PubMed Central as a valuable partner for open access publishing, while others express concerns about diverted traffic and economic consequences.
- Public repositories like PubMed Central have been found to draw significant numbers of readers away from journal websites.
- Open access papers in certain fields have shown greater research impact.
- PubMed Central has received support from libraries, universities, and patient rights organizations.
- PMCID is a bibliographic identifier for articles in PubMed Central.
- It consists of 'PMC' followed by a string of numbers.
- Authors applying for NIH awards must include the PMCID in their application.
- Europe PubMed Central, JATS, MEDLINE, PMID, PubMed Central Canada, Redalyc, and SciELO are related resources.
- A report by Beck provides insights into PubMed Central as an XML-based archive.
- NIHMS Statistics offer information on article deposits.
- The official website of PubMed Central is hosted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
- Various references provide additional information and sources for further reading.
PubMed Central (PMC) is a free digital repository that archives open access full-text scholarly articles that have been published in biomedical and life sciences journals. As one of the major research databases developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), PubMed Central is more than a document repository. Submissions to PMC are indexed and formatted for enhanced metadata, medical ontology, and unique identifiers which enrich the XML structured data for each article. Content within PMC can be linked to other NCBI databases and accessed via Entrez search and retrieval systems, further enhancing the public's ability to discover, read and build upon its biomedical knowledge.
| Producer | United States National Library of Medicine (United States) |
|---|---|
| History | 2000–present |
| Access | |
| Cost | Free |
| Coverage | |
| Disciplines | Medicine |
| Record depth | Index, abstract & full-text |
| Format coverage | Journal articles |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Title list(s) | www |
PubMed Central is distinct from PubMed. PubMed Central is a free digital archive of full articles, accessible to anyone from anywhere via a web browser (with varying provisions for reuse). Conversely, although PubMed is a searchable database of biomedical citations and abstracts, the full-text article resides elsewhere (in print or online, free or behind a subscriber paywall).
As of December 2018[update], the PMC archive contained over 5.2 million articles, with contributions coming from publishers or authors depositing their manuscripts into the repository per the NIH Public Access Policy. Earlier data shows that from January 2013 to January 2014 author-initiated deposits exceeded 103,000 papers during a 12-month period. PMC identifies about 4,000 journals which participate in some capacity to deposit their published content into the PMC repository. Some publishers delay the release of their articles on PubMed Central for a set time after publication, referred to as an "embargo period", ranging from a few months to a few years depending on the journal. (Embargoes of six to twelve months are the most common.) PubMed Central is a key example of "systematic external distribution by a third party", which is still prohibited by the contributor agreements of many publishers.
