Adams Patrick, Reed Elsevier profits jump, Reuters UK, February 19, 2004. Excerpt: "Even as Reed Elsevier profits climb, its lucrative science publishing unit is under threat from a loose-knit group of academic institutions who are angry with high subscription fees for scientific journals. They are advocating an 'open-access' model where publication costs are borne by the author, and the journals themselves are free. '[Open access] has a one percent market share and we'll have to see how the market evolves and reacts to this,' Chief Executive Crispin Davis said. He raised a number of objections to the model, saying it could result in higher costs for research institutions and lower-quality research being published. Because not all research institutions have access to the Internet, where open-access journals are typically published, accessibility to scientific content could be reduced, Davis said. 'It would be very bad news for science if the current model went away,' he added." (PS: Note to the press. Hold Davis to these criteria, and investigate for yourselves whether OA will raise costs for research institutions, lower the quality of research, or reduce access.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 2/20/2004 10:13:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
