Publish or perish—is open access the only way forward?

摘要

There are many privileges associated with being Editor-in-Chief of a major international journal, but one particular pleasure is the opportunity to write a valedictory editorial. I will shortly be standing down after five highly enjoyable years as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases and this seems like a good time to make some observations about one of the more controversial areas in medical publishing.