Learned society business models and open access: overview of a recent JISC‐funded study

Abstract

A summary of the findings of a study which included an in‐depth exploration of journal business and pricing models of nine learned societies in the context of their requirements and of the open access (OA) business model. Detailed information on current trends in revenue costs and surplus is included. The article considers whether and how OA can be adopted by the representative sample of STM publishers.

Bibliography

“…This reportwhich was commissioned in 2005 and is, therefore, somewhat out of sync with more recent developments -noted that while learned societies were interested in open-access models, at that point none of the publishers could see substantial cost advantages in the move to an OA publishing model and the majority highlighted the extra costs incurred in administering and collecting article processing charges. 101 Although this report is now nine years old and suggested investigations of 'pay for print' and 'freemium' models that will be covered below, the arguments remain mostly unchanged today. This can be seen in the fact that Dame Janet Finch, who chaired the UK parliamentary report on OA that bears her name, warned of the implications of her own policy recommendation in early 2013, stating that there is 'no doubt' that some learned societies will face 'some difficulty finding a business model that will work'.…”

Modelos de negocio de las editoriales de revistas científicas: implicaciones para el acceso abierto

“…Ambos tipos comparten incertidumbres: así, mientras los editores tradicionales temen por su supervivencia en un sistema de acceso abierto, los que ya publican así confían en nuevas fórmulas y otros recursos que permitan asegurar su sostenibilidad. Waltham (2006;2009) investigó las editoriales tradicionales y su adaptación a la publicación online. Los resultados del estudio publicado en 2006 y realizado a partir de entrevistas a nueve editoriales científicas ponen de relieve cómo a pesar del atractivo que el acceso abierto supone -al dar mayor visibilidad a la revista, así como a los autores y a sus trabajos científicos-, les preocupa su sostenibilidad financiera.…”

Some economic aspects of the scholarly journal system

“…The results are based on an interview with a publisher that experimented with OA, one that had not, and a consultant. They came to the same conclusion as Bergstrom and Bergstrom (2006) and Waltham (2006), namely that a viable OA model for commercial publishers has yet to be found and further experimentation with complex fees and models is needed.…”