... The "Discussions and conclusions" section of this report articulates the finding that a shift to an entirely new funding model in the pure form of Open Access (author/producer pays) in which the costs of publishing research articles in journals are paid for by authors or a funding agency, and readers have access free online, is not currently a sustainable option for any of this group of journals based on the costs provided. The sources of external funding required for such a model are also not clear and may not be available even as broadly as in STM disciplines. ...
The section of the report that covers "Questions requiring fuller answers" includes a brief
discussion of core issues that the results of this study have been unable to address adequately.
Topics here include the differences between STM and HSS journals and which Open Access
model(s) are sustainable for HSS publishers. ...
[T]opics identified for further investigation ... include: ...
Is the ‘gold’ Open Access model sustainable for a sub-set of existing HSS publishers?
Where would the money come from to support ‘gold’ OA in HSS journals?
Are other ‘non-gold’ Open Access models sustainable for HSS publishers and if so which and how?
If HSS articles are posted to OA repositories (‘green’ OA) how long should the embargo period be?
Are results from Open Access experiments helpful in the understanding of society and association publishers of HSS journals? ...
Comment. A cursory review of the study shows there's a lot of thought-provoking stuff here. But a major flaw make the OA analysis suspect: The study consistently conflates "gold OA" with "author-pays", when in fact, more than 70% of gold OA journals do not charge author-side fees. The study does cite Willinsky's "nine flavors" of OA and PLoS' philanthropic underwriting, but it offers no serious review of any revenue models for gold OA other than author fees.
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.
