More about monkeys

There’s a story behind the story of the monkeys with brain implants controlling a robotic arm with their minds. The research, published Monday in the inaugural issue of the online journal, PLoS Biology, gained a great deal of media attention.

PloS Biology is one of several "open access" publications of the Public Library of Science. Its contents will be offered free on the Web (thus "open access"). Researchers pay $1,500 to publish their papers. The fee covers peer review and other costs.

The open access movement has detractors, who question the "pay to publish" requirement and skeptics, who wonder if open access journals can make it financially.

Here’s an article in The Scientist's daily news about open access.