Wellcome Trust report

["Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@worldnet.att.net>]

>More on scientific publishing cost ....  The Wellcome Trust has just
>published a report commissioned by it, "Costs and business models of
>scientific publishing" (URL below).

JE:  I don't see any mention of accounting "good will" or trademarks in
the Wellcome Trust report, the primary assets of most media companies.  
(There is a reference to "good quality" journals, perhaps a proxy for
brands, though how one would identify such a journal without a name is not
clear to me.  A hamburger and a McDonald's hamburger are totally different
economic entities.)  Good will accounts for why an author would submit an
article to one journal over another.  Established journals (not
proprietary but established journals) have it all over upstarts, whether
OA or proprietary, in the good will category.

In my view, OA journals should focus on emerging areas of scholarship, not
well-established ones.  The switching costs for the established journals
are simply too great and largely have to be borne by authors, who,
understandably, may not be as keen on OA as some librarians.

Joe Esposito