Re: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website

["\"FrederickFriend\"" <ucylfjf@ucl.ac.uk>]

Joe's accurate but depressing description of the journal market 
economy illustrates what a bad situation the academic community 
has got itself into over the years in disseminating 
publicly-funded research. Only a radical change in business 
models will break open the market, but the big deals which 
promised so much have now become a ball and chain around our legs 
limiting our freedom of movement.

Fred Friend

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joseph Esposito" <espositoj@gmail.com>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 12:07 AM
Subject: RE: Journal/Publisher 2010 price freeze info on MLA website

>I believe the point Nawin is making is that freezing or lowering
> prices is not in a publisher's interest unless the product is of
> marginal value, in which case a high price may indeed result in a
> cancellation.  The obvious point to be made here is that this is
> an editorial game (the best products win)and other aspects of a
> publisher's trading practices (low pricing, good customer
> service, flexible usage terms, nice people)are rarely rewarded
> (except, to repeat, for marginal publications).  In fact, it may
> be in the interests of a publisher of the higher quality
> publications to raise prices even in desperate economic times, as
> such a publisher is protected by the armor of outstanding
> editorial content and can stand by and watch as the weaker
> editorial products get cancelled, despite the generous trading
> practices of those unfortunate publishers. If I have
> misunderstood Nawin's question (which I took to be rhetorical),
> please correct me.
>
> I don't like the implications of this reasoning any more than
> anyone else; it's a lot like cheering on the Second Law of
> Thermodynammics; so I beg you not to shoot the messenger.  But
> this is the way the economy works, and matters are not improved
> by encouraging "good behavior" only to punish the most noble in
> the end.
>
> Joe Esposito