Re: Monopolies in publishing

["James A. Robinson" <jim.robinson@stanford.edu>]

> academician), referees are not paid for their services. This is the most
> important part of peer review, and the publisher pays nothing for this
> invaluable donation of time and expertise. For commercial publishers to
> claim they have high costs for the editorial review process is a gross
> exaggeration at best.

I'd just like to throw in the observation that, according to what I've
read, the publisher's expenses with regard to the peer review process is
not necessarily any obvious cost of salaries to referees. Rather, they
need to spend time and money tracking where manuscripts are, getting them
to their destination via the fastest possible delivery services, and other
administrative functions.

I've seen what appear to be various models with regard to editorial staff,
with some who are paid and with some who are volunteers. In all cases
though, it does appear that they have set up an infrastructure to handle
the every day "management" of the publications.  That kind of
infrastructure often costs money, it can't always be volunteer.

Jim