Pricing, business models and open access Matthew Cockerill Publisher, BioMed Central Academic...
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Transcript of Pricing, business models and open access Matthew Cockerill Publisher, BioMed Central Academic...
Pricing, business models and open access
Matthew CockerillPublisher, BioMed Central
Academic Publishing in Europe, 24th Jan 2007
Time to panic?
?Status quovs
Apocalypse
Industries that have been changed by the internet
Retail Travel Music Video Science publishing
Wave ofprogress
The effect of the internet on the science publishing industry
Changes have been gradual and not in the least apocalyptic
There is a lot of inertia But change is happening - as it
should be!
The power of the customer
Open access mandates from research bodies such as CERN and Wellcome have forced the hand of the most reluctant publishers
Even the most OA-sceptical publishers (e.g. Elsevier, the Royal Society, the American Chemical Society) now offer an open access option, where funders demand it
The era of the ‘diktat’ from publishers is over
Open access publication charges BioMed Central comparison
page now lists 21 publishers’ open access options
Charges vary by an order of magnitude ($500 -$5000)
BioMed Central’s charges (~$1500) are towards the lower end
For many traditional publishers, OA charges are icing on the subscription cake, so pricing is somewhat arbitrary
http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/authors /apccomparison
Interesting revenue data reported by OUP in June 2006
Nucleic Acids ResearchPublished by OUP, fully open access since 2005
2003: Income per article published = $4224 2005: Income per article published = $3622 Open access publication charge = $1900
[Has been increased to $2370 for 2007] A gap between revenue from OA fees and previous per
article revenue Continuing print subscriptions bridge some of shortfall
See: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/news/oa_workshop.html
What does a transition to OA mean for traditional publishers? Most libraries will not continue to pay
subscriptions for journals that are fully OA So either:
– Per article publication charges will need to climbOR
– Total revenue per article will fall, resulting in a need to lower costs and/or profit expectations
Downward pressure on OA publication charges is to be expected
The most efficient publishers will be rewarded
Central misunderstanding about open access publishing
Open access = ‘Author pays’?
In biomedicine, investigator-led grant funding is widespread
Payment of publication costs from author’s grants has helped kick-start open access in biomedicine
But this is not the only model, nor necessarily the best, long-term
Other models for OA
Central institutional funds for OA publication costs (e.g. Wellcome)
Institutionally-supported journals, e.g.• Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry• Chinese Medicine• Chiropractic & Osteopathy• Filaria Journal• International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity• Journal of Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Injury
• Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research
Consortium-supported journals (CERN)
CERN - Large Hadron Collider
CERN and OA to Particle Physics
Working party set in November 2006 to turn CERN’s open access commitment into reality
Membership of particle physics laboratory consortium should be finalized by February
Intention is that all particle physics research from CERN and other consortium members will be published OA from January 2008[In time for the publication of the first experimental results from the Large Hadron Collider]
Another model for OA
Academics running their own journals
Open source software such as Open Journal Systems (OJS) makes it easier than ever for academics to run journals themselves
Low direct costs, but significant drain on time and institutional resources
How should publishers respond?
Publishers need to persuade academics that it remains beneficial to outsource the task of journal publishing
The publishing industry cannot simply assume that it has an ongoing right to control the publication of academic research
Don’t look backwards
It is not enough for publishers to focus on seeking to maintain the same revenue per article as under subscription model
As new models/alternatives appear, publishers, to survive, need to:– Ensure that their pricing relates to the value
that they add – Look for new ways to add value
Looking forwards…
Technology lowers barriers to creating and sharing content
YouTube of science publishing?
The value of case reports
Historically, discouraged by most journals Not proper research, low citations, would
damage impact factor BUT Case reports have the potential to be valuable
contributions to medical knowledge, if they can be effectively compiled and mined
Case reports (contd.)
Use Web 2.0 technology to collect structured case report information
Process automatically where possible Offer user friendly database interface Cost of publication must be low -
practitioners generally lack research funds
JMCR publication charge: £250
In conclusion…
Seeking to preserve the publishing industry economics of yesterday is not an end in itself
Change need not be a bad thing New business opportunities arise
as old ones disappear