RE: AAP Statement Regarding the NIH Policy

["David Goodman" <David.Goodman@liu.edu>]

Jan is not talking about all forms of OA. The postprint model offers no
price competition, and is just as susceptible to spiraling price increases
as the present system.

He is talking only about OA journals, paid for "on behalf of the author"  
Even so, I cannot see how competition will be significant until almost all
good journals in a particular subject are OA journals. And there are
further problems:

If sponsoring organizations or universities simply pay any fee whatever
that may be charged by the publisher, this will not foster competition,
but rather encourage price escalation without even the limiting effect of
subscription loss.

If a fee up to a certain amount is paid, then this amounts to
price-fixing. There will be competition for which publisher can offer the
highest quality at the set price, but no reason for any publisher to
charge less.

If authors need pay personally, there will be drastic competition-- for
the cheapest and lowest quality way to produce a journal.

I think models might be found that will promote competition, but they will
be models with different parties paying various portions of the price, and
I doubt that bringing them into effect will be simple or rapid.  If we
oversimplify the problems that will need solution, the practicality of OA
will remain vulnerable to attack .

Dr. David Goodman
Associate Professor
Palmer School of Library and Information Science
Long Island University
dgoodman@liu.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu on behalf of Jan Velterop
Sent: Thu 3/3/2005 8:56 PM
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Re: AAP Statement Regarding the NIH Policy 

Open Access is compatible with private enterprise and free market
conditions. Open access publishing, where payment takes place for the
service of publishing and unlimited dissemination rather than for access,
even brings back competition, a free market condition if there ever was
one. ...

Jan Velterop