Bioline International: A case study in open access and its usage for enhancement of research distribution for scientific research from developing countries

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the growth and changes in Bioline International (BI), a non-profit scholarly publications aggregator, distributor, publisher, and publishing assistance service founded in 1993 and operated by scientists and librarians who have a strong commitment to the principles of open access (OA) and to broad distribution, by electronic means, of scientific information. Design/methodology/approach - The paper presents a case study of BI. Findings - BI has changed considerably since its early days. Initially, it largely consisted of e-mailed versions of printed peer-reviewed scientific journals from developing countries; these versions were generally e-mailed as ASCII text and could lack figures and graphics. But much has changed, both due to technological capabilities and due to policy changes. BI has increasingly moved toward inclusion of e-only journals, and has itself tried its hand at publishing a small selection of highly specialized, fully online journals, with OA portions. In January 2004, it converted its entire web site to OA (formerly, some portions were restricted). It has been enabled to become a pure OA provider of scholarly information through a model of grant support and partnerships with other institutions, including many international institutes and foundations and the University of Toronto. Originality/value - BI success is provides an unusual and successful model for strong support for OA to scholarly research and scientific information, especially from developing countries. It also provides a model of flexibility and adaptability, with minimal resources, and demonstrates the possibilities which emerge from truly broad-based collaborations, across multiple countries, and between large and small societies, academe, and non-governmental organizations.