Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science appears to me to be a great example of how science publishing should be done.
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource.
It also provides a synopsis of every article, written for a general audience.
All of the articles are licensed under the excellent creative commons licensing system, in this case allowing:
You are free:Under the following conditions:
- to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work
- to make derivative works
- to make commercial use of the work
- by Attribution. You must give the original author credit.
Update:
On the very day I go blogging about this none other than wired news writes on it too.
At least 1,525 journals provide free access, making up 5 to 10 percent of the world's journals. The free journals are gaining influence too: Thomson Scientific, which tracks academic publishing, found they're commonly cited by other journals, suggesting that they're well-read. Meanwhile, other journals are opening their archives to readers for free.