This week is International Open Access Week, which runs from October 23rd-29th and aims to raise the visibility of open scholarship and accelerate research through events and campaigns. 

As an open access journal which has been free to read since its launch ten years ago, ecancermedicalscience is a staunch supporter of making the results of research accessible to all, in order to break down financial and geographical barriers in cancer communication.  We are delighted with the way that open access has transformed the publication landscape in the biomedical sciences, with around 40% of articles being freely available within a year of publication. Many funders and governments now mandate that the results of research which they support must be made available to all, including the European Commission (through Horizon 2020 projects), the Wellcome Trust, NIH in the US and HEFCE in the UK.

ecancer has produced over 600 peer reviewed articles, 6000 videos with experts, 10,000 news stories and 150 hours of elearning over the last ten years, all open access.  We couldn't have done this without the help of a community which is committed to sharing the results of their research freely, so that all may benefit.  To learn more about what we have achieved in the open access arena, watch this interview with Prof Gordon McVie, ecancer's co-founder.