More and more biomedical researchers are seeing the benefits of publishing with BioMed Central. Through their support for open access to peer reviewed research, these pioneers are changing the face of biomedical publishing. They are true leaders, and the benefits of open access that they are helping to bring about will be felt by the whole world-wide scientific community, including in the countries with emerging economies, which up until now have been all but deprived of sufficient access to essential scientific and medical information.