Re: No Free Lunches: We Should Resist the Push to Rush Research Online

From: Arthur Smith <apsmith_at_aps.org>
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 21:10:11 +0100

John Ewing's Chronicle article echoes some of the ideas we discussed on
the "American Scientist" forum back in 1998 - not that I entirely agree
with what I said back then, but his article reminded me of the brief
scenario described at the end of the following:

http://listserver.sigmaxi.org/sc/wa.exe?A2=ind98&L=september98-forum&F=l&S=&P=3892

<quote>
   If authors en masse suddenly decided to post to [Free service],
   what then? I grant your assumption, and then what?

 1. Peer reviewed journal subscriptions crash
 2. For-profits simply raise their prices (and make out with their
3-year
    contracts) while non-profits scramble.
 3. Non-profits try to introduce author page charges. For-profits keep
theirs
    at zero. Authors flock to for-profits for publication (the
recognition
    imperative is still important) and non-profit submissions crash.
 4. Non-profits turn to government funding. For-profits cry foul and
    unfair competition.
 5. The non-profits fold or are bought out by for-profit publishers.
 6. The for-profits notice that [Free service] also is government
    subsidized...
</quote>

Now both of us are with non-profit physical science publishers - perhaps
the perspective is different in other areas?

                        Arthur Smith (apsmith_at_aps.org)

Peter Suber wrote:
>
> This article from The Chronicle of Higher Education
> (http://chronicle.com) was forwarded to you from: peters_at_earlham.edu
> [...]
>
> From the issue dated October 12, 2001
>
> No Free Lunches: We Should Resist the Push to Rush Research
> Online
>
> By JOHN H. EWING
> [...]
Received on Mon Oct 08 2001 - 21:23:55 BST

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