World Allergy Organization's official journal to become open access

"BioMed Central, the open access publisher, is pleased to announce the World Allergy Organization Journal (WAO Journal), the official journal of the World Allergy Organization (WAO), is moving to BioMed Central's open access publishing platform to join our growing open access allergy portfolio. The prevalence of allergy and its impact on society continues to rise, therefore access to allergy research is paramount in order to achieve sustainable results towards future prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The growth of interest into allergic diseases is reflected in BioMed Central's collection of allergy journals and the transition by the WAO to open access. The WAO is an international umbrella organization for the allergy community, whose members consist of 89 regional and national asthma, allergology and clinical immunology societies from around the world. WAO Journal's Editor in Chief Dr Lanny Rosenwasser states, 'The journal has been fully online from the start, so this move to open access is a natural shift, allowing WAO members and other WAO Journal authors to disseminate their research in the burgeoning field of allergy more efficiently.' The journal is an important vehicle for the WAO to be able to ensure that research will reach not only WAO members, but the widest possible global audience. This move is another step towards the aims and vision of the WAO journal: to provide a global forum for the exchange of research and information on allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology. Dr Ruby Pawankar, President of the World Allergy Organization, said, 'As an organization with global reach, it is important for our official journal to mirror the organization's commitments to improving the knowledge-share needed for immediate care and prevention of asthma and allergic disease, which are becoming more complex and more prevalent worldwide, especially in children, and increasing in the burden on patients as well as societies.' Beginning in January 2013, WAO Journal readers will have free, instant online access to all published articles not only on BioMed Central's website, but also on PubMed Central as well as other open access repositories, free from the constraints of print publication cycles.