^{Historically, peer-reviewed journals were published by scientific societies on a non-profit basis. Today scholarly publishing is dominated by a handful of large commercial publishers focused on maximising their profits. This has left small society publishers struggling to survive and libraries unable to afford all the journals they need. Unable to compete with commercial publishers, many societies have given up and sold or outsourced their publishing activities to them - a decision that inevitably leads to a rise in the price of their journals. Some, however, have sought survival by banding together and creating online collections of their combined journal portfolios. This is ... the aim of BioOne, which currently provides online access to 167 titles from 126 different non-profit bioscience publishers.}

In an interview with journalist Richard Poynder, Mark Kurtz, the director of business development at the biological journals e-platform, BioOne, explains the reasons behind the launch of BioOne, his plans for sustainability for the platform, and the business models, including open access, that underpin the business. This is one of series of interviews Poynder has done with significant figures in the open access movement.