The findings, the core of which come from emails sent to OA publishers listed on the DOAJ directory website, are not good news for the open access movement. They raise doubts about the quality of peer review editing, impact factors and editorial independence....Key financial findings from the study show that 41% of OA journals are losing money, 24% are just breaking even, and a mere 35% making profit.
Bob Campbell, president of Blackwell Publishing, told IWR that the survey showed that the long-term viability of OA publishing was highly questionable. "Most OA publishing houses are financially stretched," he said. "The OA model is not secure financially, it isn't delivering a stable platform and I don't think it's sustainable."...Not surprisingly, open access publisher BioMed Central was quick to retaliate, branding the report as containing " significant factual inaccuracies" and drawing "unjustified conclusions concerning the long-term sustainability of OA journals".
BioMed Central publisher, Dr Matthew Cockerill, said: "The fact that many open access journals currently operate at a loss is simply a sign that these are early days. There is every reason to think that the passage of time will profoundly improve the ability of open access journals to cover their costs."
(PS: Pickering's article doesn't take into account the October 28 post-publication addendum to the report, which acknowledges and corrects the inaccuracies Matt Cockerill pointed out. For more clarification of the report's conclusions, see my interview with Cara Kaufman in the November SOAN.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/04/2005 11:52:00 AM.
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.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
