Abstract
Nearly six years ago Ira Mellman, then Editor-in-Chief of the JCB, published an editorial entitled "Providing realistic access" (1). It described the Journal's efforts to reconcile its subscription-based business model with the goal of providing public access to scholarly journal content. Since then, developments in the public-access movement are bringing us closer to the ideal of universal public access. But will there still be a place for selective journals like the JCB when we achieve that objective?