APPENDIX 56
Memorandum from the British Pharmacological
Society
1. The British Pharmacological Society ("the
Society" or "BPS") is the primary learned society
in the United Kingdom for pharmacologists, and one of the most
prominent in its discipline in the world. Pharmacology is the
science of how drugs work. It is different from pharmacy, which
is concerned with the provision of medicines to the public. Pharmacology
is a fundamental discipline in the development of new and improved
drugs to save and improve the quality of life, both human and
animal, throughout the world. Pharmacologists work "from
bench to bedside": in other words from basic molecular and
cellular research on the mechanisms of health and disease, through
the pre-clinical and clinical development of new drugs for specific
conditions, to the monitoring of reactions to drugs that are in
widespread use and the optimisation of prescribing practice in
hospitals and primary care. The Society has 2,622 members in 55
countries, working in academia (research and teaching), industry,
the medical profession, and regulatory authorities. The Society
is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. The Society is
one of the founding members of the Biosciences Federation.
LEARNED SOCIETIES
AND PUBLICATION
2. The Select Committee's notice of its
inquiry into scientific publications does not make any reference
to publishing by learned societies. For many such bodies it is
a central activity. It contributes to their scientific objectives
to promote their disciplines and also provides income to fund
their other activities, to enable them to be offered to the scientific
community, either free or at a considerable discount on the real
cost. The Committee's Chairman has said that: ". . . Researchers,
teachers and students must have easy access to scientific publications
at a fair price. . ." The BPS agrees with this statement.
However, it is important to recognise that income from scientific
publishing by learned societies is ploughed back into the support
and development of the scientific disciplines they represent.
BPS PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES
3. The Society is the proprietor of two
scientific journals: the British Journal of Pharmacology (BJP—established
in 1946) and the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (BJCP—established
in 1974). Both are peer-reviewed primary research journals and
rank high among their competitors. Both journals are available
online as well as in hard copy. The Society also publishes an
online-only journal—pA2 Online, which contains the
peer reviewed proceedings of our scientific meetings together
with some other materials of general interest to pharmacologists.
4. Both journals are available to members
of the Society free online and at a considerable discount for
hard copies. A large number of pharmacologists world-wide are
therefore able to access the two journals at a very small cost.
We have plans to provide articles published more than one year
ago free online to all users, further extending accessibility.
5. The Editorial Boards of the BJP and BJCP
consist of volunteer scientists, mainly but not all BPS members,
who undertake peer review and other editorial work on a pro
bono basis. They are drawn from the pharmacology community
world-wide, and so provide an international perspective, which
is vital for journals that draw their contributors from all over
the globe.
6. For the BJP and the BJCP, the Society
works in partnership with commercial publishers—Nature Publishing
Group and Blackwell Publishing respectively. We have had this
type of arrangement since the inception of the journals, and for
a small learned society it works well. Some large societies act
as their own publishers, which suits them, as they have the resources
to back a publishing arm. However, partnerships with commercial
publishers provide small societies with access to the specialized
publishing skills (including electronic publishing), marketing
expertise, and distribution networks of a large publisher, as
well as the attendant economies of scale, while ensuring that
the societies maintain control over the scientific quality and
direction of their journals.
CONTRIBUTION OF
OUR PUBLISHING
ACTIVITIES TO
OUR CHARITABLE
OBJECTIVES
7. The Society's formal charitable objective
is: "to promote and advance pharmacology, including without
limitation clinical pharmacology". We do this by:
— running general and specialised scientific
meetings;
— providing networking opportunities
for scientists in pharmacology and related fields;
— offering bursaries to assist in attendance
at important scientific meetings overseas and, for younger scientists,
in this country too;
— funding PhD studentships;
— assisting with the costs of teaching
undergraduates about the use of animals in scientific research;
— providing continuing professional
development materials for doctors specialising in clinical pharmacology
and therapeutics;
— providing information to school and
university students and teachers about courses and careers in
pharmacology;
— providing information to the public
via our web site (www.bps.ac.uk) and to journalists writing about
how drugs work; and
— making awards to both young and mature
pharmacologists to recognise high achievement in science.
We also work closely with international and
European federations of pharmacological societies to promote the
discipline and encourage networking across borders. The Society
is the UK representative to the International Union of Pharmacology
(IUPHAR) and shares with the Royal Society the payment of the
UK subscription. Through IUPHAR the Society contributes to developing
pharmacology in poorer countries. In 2008 we shall be hosting
the quadrennial meeting of the European Federation of Pharmacological
Societies, and underwriting it financially. The publication of
the journals themselves also makes a direct contribution to our
objectives, by facilitating the communication of pharmacological
research.
8. In 2002-03 we spent over £850,000
on promoting and advancing pharmacology. Nearly £800,000
of this came from our publishing activities. Without this income
we should either have to raise funds in a different way or cease
to provide most of our current activities. Alternative sources
of funds for the Society's activities would include increasing
membership subscriptions; charging higher fees for attendance
at our meetings; and introducing publication charges to be paid
by authors. All of these options would risk taking Society membership
and activities out of the reach of many younger scientists and
scientists from less wealthy countries. There would also be an
effect on UK Government spending, through the Research Councils,
and on medical research charity spending, as research grants would
have to be increased to take into account these new costs.
9. A recent survey of authors by an American
scientific society showed that while 50% of them would be willing
to pay charges to allow free access to their papers published
in a scientific journal, only 2% of them would be willing to pay
charges at a level that would cover the costs of the service and
compensate for loss of subscription income. [186]
10. If the BPS and other similar learned
societies had to cease some of their activities because of lost
income from journal publication, there would be a major gap in
the scientific infrastructure in the UK, which would have to be
filled, and the costs would have to be borne by the same bodies
that currently bear the costs of journals—universities,
research institutes etc. Similarly, if the business model for
scientific publishing changes from payment by readers to payment
by authors, the funds will ultimately come from the same sources.
It is a delusion to believe that open access will mean cheaper
science. If scientists are to have confidence in the information
they receive, some kind of peer review system is needed, and this
has to be paid for somehow. Learned societies are very cost effective
in this respect, because their editors and referees work for the
good of the discipline and for professional recognition rather
than for monetary reward.
11. The Select Committee has asked what
impact trends in academic journal publishing will have on the
risks of scientific fraud and malpractice. Current trends are
towards increasing use of electronic media, with all the associated
concerns about ensuring the integrity of the published work. Commercial
publishers will no doubt give evidence on the technical aspects
of ensuring that once published online, papers cannot be changed.
Academic researchers increasingly have their own web sites. Many
peer reviewed journals permit authors to post accepted papers
on these personal sites in parallel with publication in print
on paper and online journals. This is a helpful trend. The ease
of placing information on web sites does not in itself make fraud
or misrepresentation more likely, but it makes it more likely
that fraudulent work will be seen, as peer review will not necessarily
have taken place. We could not claim that peer review is an absolute
defence against scientific fraud, as several well publicised cases
in recent years have demonstrated, but close examination by experts
before publication is the best defence we have. Peer review also
reassures scientists already overburdened with information that
they are reading high quality work. A recent MORI survey commissioned
by the Science Media Centre and Nature[187]
found that although 75% of the public did not understand the term
"peer review", 71% of them thought that either a peer
review type process or some kind of replication of results by
other scientists should take place before research findings are
made public.
12. Finally, it should be pointed out that
scientific publishing is an international business. Scientists
submit their work to the most suitable journals, not necessarily
to local ones. Successful journals find their authors and subscribers
all over the world. Any actions by the British Government will
affect only the British market, and may have unintended consequences
for the health of British science and UK-based journals.
February 2004
186 PNAS February 3, 2004, 101, (5), 1111. Back
187
Science Media Centre Press release 2 February 2004. Back
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