Inspired by the initial success of WebmedCentral, two doctors working with the National Health Service of the United Kingdom are launching WebmedCentral plus this week. Dr. Deepak Kejariwal (CEO of Webmed Limited, UK and a consultant gastroenterologist with University Hospital of North Durham) and Dr. Kamal Mahawar (Chairman of Webmed Limited, UK and a consultant general and bariatric surgeon with Sunderland Royal Hospital) co-founded their earlier venture WebmedCentral in the summer of 2010 with the help of some friends. They observed that many scientists in developing world find access to published literature difficult. Though Open Access journals have helped improve the access, publishing articles in these journals at a cost of more than a thousand US dollar (several thousand in many cases) does not seem to be a practical solution for many scientists. 

WebmedCentral was driven by a keen desire to improve access to academic literature by making it cheaper to publish and read. Since Peer Review is at the heart of cost of academic publishing, WebmedCentral introduced an innovative post publication peer review method. On WebmedCentral, scientists publish their research first and peer review takes place afterwards. This has helped bring down the cost of publishing an open access article from hundreds of American dollars to 30-40 US dollars. With its unique publishing method, WebmedCentral has been able to attract more than 5500 scientists, 1200 odd articles and hundreds of distinguished academicians and professors from all over the world working in various capacity as Advisors, Faculty and Reviewers in less than two and a half years. 

The new venture from the team, WebmedCentral plus, will publish open access articles after peer review by an acclaimed team of editors and reviewers at a fraction of the cost typically seen in the industry. The new venture recognises that many scientists have to publish in an environment of pre publication peer review to safeguard academic reputation of their units and institutes. Prof. George Perry, a distinguished scientists, is the Editor-in-Chief of WebmedCentral plus. He will be assisted by a team of hundreds of renowned and highly qualified specialty editors and editorial board members. By utilising the latest in Information Technology, Dr. Kejariwal and Dr. Mahawar hope to make the world of academic publishing fairer and more efficient in this digital age.