Stephen Foley, Investment Column, The Independent, July 15, 2004. Excerpt: "The merger of Taylor & Francis merger with Informa...reduced T&F's dependence on subscriptions to its academic journals, which account for well below half of the combined group's revenues. This could be important as the debate over 'open access' to such journals hots up. Rather than readers paying for access to scientific research, some organisations are experimenting with free access, with the cost of publishing instead being shouldered by the researcher, which pays for his or her article to appear. A committee of MPs reports on the issue next week, but the real test will be whether the open-access model proves commercially viable, and that could take much longer to establish. The threat to profits may not be as great as some in the City fear, but the fact that there is a debate at all reflects years of irritating subscription price rises. These are at an end."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 7/15/2004 02:01:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
