Since the inception of PMN’s online-only journals, new articles have first been publicly available, at no cost, upon initial publication. The purpose of which was to allow readers and prospective authors to become familiar with PMN’s new electronic format and with the applied nature and scope of each individual journal. Subsequently, older articles were then rotated into a subscription archive. This was at a time when Internet publishing was in its infancy and there were no common subscription standards.
 

Five years later, more uniform online subscription models have evolved. In keeping with these, the Plant Management Network will implement a more customary subscription-for-access model for its older journals, beginning June 30, 2005. The necessity for this stems from the need for PMN to eventually become a self-sustaining not-for-profit endeavor supported by subscriptions and partnerships, as originally envisioned. PMN’s newer journals will continue to offer articles that are originally publicly available in order to attract additional interest.
 

PMN’s first two journals, Crop Management and Plant Health Progress, will fully implement subscription access beginning June 30, 2005. For this, tables of contents and summaries of each peer-reviewed article will remain publicly available but full-text articles will require a subscription. News and opinion articles will remain public. After the initial subscription-only access period, all articles 18 months and older will then be made publicly available under PMN’s Open Access policy.
 

PMN’s two newer journals, Applied Turfgrass Science and Forage and Grazinglands, will continue to publish new articles in the public area in order to continue to attract new authors and readers. This will be a transitional phase that will remain until such time as each journal can support the full subscription model.
 

Other of PMN’s publications and resources will be available only to subscribers. These include the PMN Image Collections, Plant Science Database, Education & Training Center, Biological and Cultural Tests for Control of Plant Diseases, Fungicide and Nematicide Tests, and Variety Trials.
 

Subscriptions are available to both individual subscribers and libraries. They are also available—either at no cost or at a discount—to employees, members, and other qualified affiliates of PMN’s partner organizations. One single subscription fee includes all journals and resources mentioned above.
 

To assure uninterrupted access, readers are encouraged to subscribe early. Individuals may receive a $10 discount by subscribing online before June 30, 2005, using the promotion code PMN405. Users may also recommend that either their academic, corporate, or governmental library subscribe or that their organization become a PMN partner. A form for recommending subscriptions to libraries is available online. Information on full partnerships may be obtained from Joan Grudem, PMN Partner Relations Manager.