Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Publishers add value but their prices are unaffordable

Martyn Daniels, Open Access - Who Pays?  Booksellers Association, February 13, 2007.  Excerpt:

...[T]he European Research Council has argued that the high price of scientific journals was "impeding scientific progress"...

So on one hand, we have commercial parties who are trying to assist researchers and institutions publish and access a rich body of work, and on the other hand, we have researchers trying to publish and institutions trying to access a rich body of work. The key therefore lies in the value that the publisher brings to the table and whether that equates to the value perceived by the creator and the reader.

Yesterday paper dictated the workflow of submission, peer review, editorial, production and distribution. Today digital communications potentially turns much of this on its head. Yesterday journals were often ‘twigged’ to maximize the specialization and some would suggest their price. Today online search and discovery and referencing should change this. Yesterday publication and subscriptions were scheduled to align with issues within academic years. Today articles should be managed in real time and not bound by issues which become increasingly irrelevant....