BioMed Central recently announced the launch of BMC Veterinary Research, the first international open access journal to cover all areas of veterinary science and medicine. BMC Veterinary Research is the latest addition to the BMC series of open access journals. The journal publishes peer-reviewed research and methodology articles, all of which are immediately available without charge to any reader with Internet access. From launch, all published articles will be included in PubMed, and copies of the articles will be deposited in PubMed Central and other internationally recognized Open Access repositories. The journal is now accepting submissions at www.biomedcentral.com/bmcvetres.

BMC Veterinary Research journal is supported by an international editorial board, including Professor David Eckersall, BSc, MBA, PhD, FRCPath, of the University of Glasgow, U.K. He said, “BMC Veterinary Research will be greatly welcomed by the research community. The benefits of open access publishing, which has proved so successful in human medicine and biological sciences, will now be available for the wide range of specialties that are encompassed in veterinary research. This will allow free and universal access via the Internet to the latest results in important areas concerning animal health and welfare.”

Members of the editorial board also feel strongly that open access is crucial for veterinary researchers around the world. Professor Dirk Pfeiffer, Tierarzt (German veterinary degree), Dr.med.vet., PhD, DipTropVetMed, MACVSc, DipECVPH, professor of Veterinary Epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College in London, said, “Open access allows scientists and non-scientists from anywhere around the world access to information about the latest scientific developments. For developing countries, it will have a very significant impact with respect to their ability to maintain an up-to-date scientific knowledge base, and therefore to implement state-of-the-art methodologies in livestock production in order to reduce poverty.”

BMC Veterinary Research will consider original research articles in all aspects of veterinary science and medicine, including the epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of medical conditions of domestic, companion, farm and wild animals, as well as the biomedical processes that underlie their health