Taylor & Francis is the latest publishing company to start offering its authors an open access (OA) option. iOpenAccess, as the new service is dubbed, certainly has a name that will attract the iPod generation, but at present remains a pilot.

iOpenAccess is across 175 Taylor & Francis journals in its chemistry, mathematics and physics portfolios, as well as a behavioural science journal from the Psychological Press.  Medical and bioscience journals from the Informa Healthcare brand are also included in the scheme.

"We are introducing iOpenAccess only after the widest possible consultation with the editor, author and funding communities," said Dr David Green, journals publishing director at Taylor & Francis. "We are doing so in a manner which will ensure the continuing viability and quality of major international journals with whose publishing stewardship we are entrusted."

Releasing details of how iOpenAccess will work, Taylor & Francis said authors will be asked to grant a publishing licence or assign copyright. The article will then be released onto the internet for free using the Creative Commons Licence scheme favoured by the likes of the BBC. Taylor & Francis also guarantees authors no embargo restrictions on posting their work to an institutional repository and that it will review the subscription rates for the titles under the scheme.