http://crookedtimber.org/2004/01/16/academic-publishing-and-monopoly-pricing/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:56:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://crookedtimber.org/2004/01/16/academic-publishing-and-monopoly-pricing/comment-page-1/#comment-13506 robin green Sat, 17 Jan 2004 00:10:59 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=902#comment-13506 An <a href="http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,52632,00.html">alternative model</a> is provided by the <a href="http://jbiol.com/">Journal of Biology</a>. As the article notes, the journal grew from the open letter on open publishing published by the <a href="http://www.publiclibraryofscience.org/">Public Library of Science</a>. In some cases, commercial journals charge at both ends - for publication and for subscription. And, of course, they retain exclusive publication rights[1]. Given all this, there is a question mark over whether they provide value for money, and whether academics might be able to do a more efficient job themselves - in every sense - by cutting out the middleman. And if there is no profit motive involved, there is no need to keep copyright restrictions on papers after sufficient time has elapsed to recoup the costs of publishing. Indeed, you can even make some papers free straight away. Free really might be <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/detail/offer-listing/-/187124000X/used/ref=sdp_usedb/202-9574117-0280662">cheaper</a> in this context, after all. [1] In theory - there is evidently a variable amount of leeway in terms of posting a paper on your homepage in the Internet age. An alternative model is provided by the Journal of Biology. As the article notes, the journal grew from the open letter on open publishing published by the Public Library of Science. In some cases, commercial journals charge at both ends – for publication and for subscription. And, of course, they retain exclusive publication rights[1]. Given all this, there is a question mark over whether they provide value for money, and whether academics might be able to do a more efficient job themselves – in every sense – by cutting out the middleman. And if there is no profit motive involved, there is no need to keep copyright restrictions on papers after sufficient time has elapsed to recoup the costs of publishing. Indeed, you can even make some papers free straight away. Free really might be cheaper in this context, after all. [1] In theory – there is evidently a variable amount of leeway in terms of posting a paper on your homepage in the Internet age.

]]>