Re: Publishing costs

["Anthony Watkinson" <anthony.watkinson@btopenworld.com>]

I do not think that commercial publishers are proposing higher publication
costs than not-for-profit publishers are. The comments I have seen on
other lists does not suggest this. But I would agree with David that there
is a lot to be gained by a properly scoped investigation of all costs in
scholarly communication.

Anthony

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Goodman" <David.Goodman@liu.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 10:45 PM
Subject: RE: Publishing costs

> Although discussions alone will not clarify this, the presentation of
> actual results will. I know that commercial publishers almost invariably
> regard these data as confidential; since some of the societies are willing
> to release reliable data, it is hardly surprising that people use what
> data there are.
>
> This necessarily puts the burden of proof on publishers when they propose
> higher costs.
>
> Among the many advantages of OA is that the actual market will determine
> this.  For the first time there will be true price competition in the
> publication of journals. At the least, this will eliminate both those who
> set costs so low that they are unsustainable, and those who set costs so
> high that others can offer equivalent publication at a much lower rate.
> >From classical economics, the only way of preventing this is a cartel,
> and the start-up costs for online publishing are so low (given that you 
> have an editor that can attract good papers) that this should not 
> develop.
>
> But I conclude that anyone who can present a reasoned cost study should,
> provided there is some evidence more than speculation. As for publishers
> unwilling to do so, I see no reason to believe any figures they might
> provide.
>
> Dr. David Goodman
> Associate Professor,
> Palmer School of Library and Information Science
> Long Island University, Brookville, NY
> dgoodman@liu.edu