The speed and ease of use of the Internet have inspired scientists to seek ways of publishing their research more quickly and more broadly than ever before. The open access movement has formalized those interests around the following goals:

• Free, online content that anyone can access
• Minimal cost to content creators
• Timely publication processes

These goals serve researchers by making the most current research available in a timely way to support further study and translation into practice. As noted in a July 2012 article in The Economist, governments have begun requiring open access publication to disseminate the results of publicly funded research. The U.S. National Institutes of Health have required open access publication since 2008, and the United Kingdom and the European Union announced in summer 2012 that open access publication would be required starting in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
Scientific publishers have begun to facilitate open access with new online journals that still require peer review and copyediting but allow authors to retain copyright to their work and reproduction with citation but at no charge. Professional associations such as the Council of Science Editors support these changes. Publisher PLOS has embraced the open access model and publishes seven of its journals through open access, including PLOS Medicine. In January 2013, the International Society for Sexual Medicine announced its new open access journal, Sexual Medicine, to be published by Wiley-Blackwell. And PeerJ announced the publication of its first 30 articles in February 2013 in its new open access journal PeerJ.
This trend is expected to continue, and copyeditors have a role to play in ensuring the quality of rapidly published content. At Dragonfly Editorial, we work with individual authors around the world to provide presubmission copyediting and language editing of original research. Our editors facilitate clarity and readability of manuscripts for peer review and help ensure compliance with journal-specific author guidelines. A number of our authors have been pleased with the responses their pre-edited papers have received from publishers and return to Dragonfly with additional projects.
Please contact Samantha Enslen if Dragonfly Editorial can help you finalize your scientific or medical manuscript for publication.
Jeni Crockett-Holme is a senior medical editor with Dragonfly Editorial.
Resources:

Brought to book: academic journals face a radical shake-up. The Economist, July 21, 2012. http://www.economist.com/node/21559317. Accessed February 14, 2013.
President’s letter – August 2012. Council of Science Editors website. http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3654. Accessed February 14, 2013.
Journals. PLOS Website. http://www.plos.org/publications/journals/. Accessed February 14, 2013.
Sexual Medicine open access journal. International Society for Sexual Medicine web site. http://www.issm.info/news/sex-health-headlines/sexual-medicine-open-access-journal. Accessed February 14, 2013.
PeerJ blog: the launch of PeerJ. PeerJ Web site. http://blog.peerj.com/post/42920112598/launch-of-peerj. Accessed February 14, 2013.