Harvard University says it can't afford journal publishers' prices

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/apr/24/harvard-university-journal-publishers-prices

Exasperated by rising subscription costs charged by academic publishers, Harvard University has encouraged its faculty members to make their research freely available through open access journals and to resign from publications that keep articles behind paywalls.

A memo from Harvard Library to the university's 2,100 teaching and research staff called for action after warning it could no longer afford the price hikes imposed by many large journal publishers, which bill the library around $3.5m a year.

The extraordinary move thrusts one of the world's wealthiest and most prestigious institutions into the centre of an increasingly fraught debate over access to the results of academic research, much of which is funded by the taxpayer.

The outcome of Harvard's decision to take on the publishers will be watched closely by major universities around the world and is likely to prompt others to follow suit.

[n2doc]

1. They can afford them, they have tens of billions in endowments

But, something that these articles never point out, is that most 'open access' journals cost an arm and a leg to publish IN. Some Journals cost $1500 or more to publish an open access paper. So the costs are being shoved down to the scientists instead of the institutions. In the long run this means less publishing.

[frazzled]

2. But they are cheaper than the day is long

And I am not just talking out of school.

[FarCenter]

3. Non-open journals also have page fees and other charges

For example, some charge extra fees if the author wishes to retain the right to make the paper accessible on the author's web site.

You would think that Harvard could simply put up its own web site and self-publish. Like many other universities, it has its own press.

[n2doc]

4. True, but in my experience they are far lower n/t

[Trillo]

5. Something doesn't seem to make sense.

Last edited Wed Apr 25, 2012, 11:58 AM - Edit history (1)

If many to most studies are funded by taxpayers (in the article), and researchers peer review other researchers work for free (also in the article), the researchers often sitting on the boards of journals (also in the article), then what, exactly, are the journals doing for, or perhaps more importantly--with--the funding they're receiving from subscription sales?

[Recursion]

6. Buying subscriptions to other journals and funding grad students' research

At least in engineering (my field back in grad school) there's IEEE which publishes ridiculously expensive journals, and then most colleges of engineering publish one or two journals with which they hope to make enough money that the engineering library can afford the IEEE subscriptions.