[SciELO: A cooperative project for the dissemination of science]

The article describes the SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) model for the electronic publication and dissemination of scientific journals, its origin and evolution, methodology, components, services and potential, and its implantation in Spain. It consists of thirteen participant countries with eight certified web portals, with another 5 under development and another two thematic ones. In February 2009 Scielo.org had 611 magazines and 195,789 articles of which 46% were about health sciences. Spain became a project member in 1999 and launched the SciELO web portal in 2001, as well as 4 magazines. It currently has 39 titles in the field of Health Sciences; one of which is the Revista Española de Sanidad Penitenciaria, which joined the project in 2007 and which currently has 6 issues from 2007 and 2008 available. This makes it one of the most important open access initiatives existing. The report concludes by stating that the SciELO model contributes to the development of research and science by offering an effective and efficient method of promoting and increasing the dissemination of scientific publications in Latin America.