Abstract

Scientific communication is essential for the advancement of science and in generating benefits for the general society. Also it is fundamental in strengthening the knowledge society with a positive effect on innovation and economic growth. The Open Access journals have demonstrated to be important in providing a reliable and a more accessible mean in communicating science. An example as such, is that they are evaluated by the ISI Thomson Scientific -recognized as an authority for evaluating journals- following the same rigorous selection process as journals in print media. The measurement of the impact factors in the electronic publications demonstrates that these receive a smaller citation level than print journals, ranking in general in the lower half of journals in their subject category. Moreover, the low usage of the electronic media demonstrates a lack of confidence of authors in this new mean of communication. In this sense, editors have to provide answers to some unsolved issues regarding e-publications in order to make these journals more reliable and confident to the scholarly community. The journals edited in Latin America with international visibility represent 0.63% of the total number of publications covered by the ISI Web of Science. In the year 2005, there were 44 Latin American journals covered by the Science Citation Index, of which 89% of these are considered Open Access publications. In that same year, these publications reached an impact factor average of 0.447 in comparison with the impact factor average of 1.588 for all the journals of Open Access at world-wide level. The Electronic Journal of Biotechnology is the only Open Access Latin American journal edited exclusively in the electronic format which is covered by the ISI Science Citation Index. The experience of this journal shows that with commitment to international diversity, quality, academic rigor of the peer review process, transparency, responsibility to scientists, innovation and international cooperation, a high level of visibility and accessibility can be obtained, as demonstrated by an average of more than 83,000 readers during year 2006 and an impact factor of 0.725, which is over the mean value of Latin American journals, offering an unique opportunity to fulfill the ever increasing public demand for science information.