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Open-Access Scholarly
Publishing
Malcolm Getz
Vanderbilt University
June 1, 2004
Two Questions
Can open-access scholarship succeed?
Should open-access scholarship succeed?
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The goals are to lower costs and increase
access.
Four Topics
Three Fundamental Ideas
Transition from Paper to Digital
Market Forces
Strategies
Three Fundamental Ideas
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Substitutes versus Complements
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Recipient versus Sender Payment
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Packaging and Bundling
From Paper to Digital
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Cost to Universities in 2002
Library subscription fees, average $5,370,000
Library processing and storage, perhaps
$1,110,000
Annual Cost in $000s for a Research Library, 2002
Of 21,000 serials titles, let
Item
Print
10,000 be refereed academic
First Copy
$1,840 journals.
Distribution
320
Accounting
240
Profit
1,290
Other Serials
1,680
Publication
Total
$5,370
Following Bergstrom, put
first copy costs at $1,840th,
distribution at $320th, and
accounting at $240th.
Let 2,400 of the journals be
high-priced commercial titles.
Put profit at $1,290th.
A Research Library’s Expenditures on Serials
Annual Cost in $000s for a Research Library
Item
Print
First Copy
$1,84
0
Distribution
320
Accounting
240
Profit
Other Serials
Lib
Processing
Lib Storage
Total
1,290
Publication Plus
Library Costs
Add $37 per serial title for
1,680 library processing.
Put the present value of
790
perpetual storage of the
320 current year of each serial
at $15.
$6,48
0
Compare print to digital
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Replace print subscriptions with digital
subscriptions.
Digital subscriptions that replace print
subscriptions lower the publishers’ distribution
costs by $300,000.
Digital subscriptions lower library storage costs
by $150,000.
Annual Cost in $000s for a Research Library
Item
Print
First Copy
$1,840
$1,840
$0
Distribution
320
20
$300
Accounting
240
240
0
Profit
1,290
1,290
0
Other Serials
1,680
1,680
0
Lib Processing
790
790
0
Lib Storage
320
170
150
$6,480
$6,030
$450
Total
Digital
difference
Print to
Digital
Digital Subscription to
Open-Access
Open-access means that authors pay page
charges to journals that are available without
charge on the Internet.
Lower accounting costs because
transactions are with authors rather than
with readers.
Lower library processing cost with
universal free access on the Internet.
Annual Cost in $000s for a Research Library
Item
Print
First Copy
$1,840
Distribution
320
20
20
0
Accounting
240
240
12
228
Profit
1,290
1,290
1,290
0
Other Serials
1,680
1,680
1,680
0
Lib
Processing
790
790
420
370
Lib Storage
320
170
170
0
$6,030 $5,432
$598
Total
$6,480
Digital
Open
difference
$1,840 $1,840
Digital to Open-access
$0
Profit to Non-Profit
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Organize the open-access publications
exclusively through non-profit publishers.
Eliminate excess profit of high-priced
commercial academic journals.
Annual Cost in $000s for a Research Library
Item
Print
Digital
Open
First Copy
$1,840
Distribution
320
20
20
20
Accounting
240
240
12
12
Profit
1,290
1,290
1,290
0
Other Serials
Lib
Processing
Lib Storage
1,680
1,680
1,680
1,680
790
780
420
420
320
170
170
170
Total
$6,480
$6,030 $5,432
$4,142
$1,840 $1,840
NonProfit
$1,840
Open-access to Non-profit
Potential Cost Savings
Annual Savings in $000s per Research Library
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Significant savings
are possible by
replacing print with
digital, moving to
open-access, and
moving to non-profit
organization.
None of these
savings is
automatic.
Distribution
$300
Storage
150
Accounting
228
Processing
360
Profit
1,290
Total
$2,328
Citation Rates
Open-access will allow anyone on the Internet
to search full-text databases and retrieve page
images for any purpose without charge.
Use of Medline increased seven fold after it
became open-access. Some 30 percent of
use is by people who are not health care
providers.
With more adults having BAs and more, use of
scholarship might increase.
Market Forces
With large scale, publishers achieve market
power, the ability to charge by ability-to-pay
rather than cost.
Elsevier’s Market Intelligence Manager looks
for ways for libraries to lower operating costs
so as to pay Elsevier more.
Open-access could be offered by commercial
publishers.
Amount of Publication Fee
The publication fees needed to support highquality editing are substantial.
American Economic Review $13,000 per
article
Bergstrom estimate of average $1,820 per
article
Public Library of Science
article
$1,500 per
Strategies
Assure quality of editing of open-access
journals.
Tie size of publication fee to citation rate.
Limit publication fees to not-for-profit publishers.
Grow open access journals as ancillaries to
indices.
Two Conclusions
Can open-access scholarship succeed?
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Yes. Innovators can gain advantages.
Should open-access scholarship succeed?
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Yes. It should offer wider access at lower
cost.
Open-Access Scholarly
Publishing
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Malcolm.Getz@Vanderbilt.Edu