Institutional Journal Costs in an Open Access Environment

[Phil Davis <pmd8@cornell.edu>]

A very detailed study of the effect of three different pricing 
models (subscription, plus 2 producer-pays models) at small, 
medium, and large universities has been completed by Bill Walters 
(see abstract and link below).  This is the first analysis that 
I've seen that is based on actual cost data, and not estimates, 
averages, or best-case scenarios.  The conclusions support the 
early work reported at Cornell University that research 
institutions (net producers of information) will pay more in an 
producer-pays Open Access environment [1, 2] --Phil Davis

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Institutional Journal Costs in an Open Access Environment
by William H. Walters
http://www.library.millersville.edu/public_html/walters/journal_costs.pdf

This study investigates the potential impact of Open Access 
pricing on institutional journal expenditures in four subject 
fields at nine American colleges and universities. Three pricing 
models are evaluated: the Conventional Model (the current 
subscription model), the PLoS Open Access Model (based on the 
fees currently charged by the Public Library of Science), and the 
Equal-Revenue Open Access Model (which maintains current levels 
of total aggregate spending within each subject field). Because 
institutional disparities in publishing productivity are far 
greater than institutional disparities in library holdings, the 
shift from a subscription-based model to either Open Access model 
would bring dramatic cost savings (greater than 50%) for most 
colleges and universities. At the same time, a small number of 
institutions -- the top research universities -- would pay a far 
higher proportion of the total aggregate cost.

References
[1]  Report of the CUL Task Force on Open Access Publishing Presented
to the Cornell University Library Management Team August 9, 2004.
http://hdl.handle.net/1813/193

[2]  Calculating the Cost per Article in the Current Subscription
Model. http://hdl.handle.net/1813/236