The investigators selected the first authors of Spanish-language articles...appearing in PubMed between June and December 2003 [and sent them a nine-item questionnaire]....The study found a low level of awareness of the OAP model (22%, N = 22) and of acceptance of journals charging author fees among Spanish authors....[O]nly nine respondents (9%) indicated they would pay author fees to publish in an OA journal, and only five (5%) had published in an open access's journal that charged fees. Nearly one-third of respondents noted that lack of funds was a significant barrier to open access publishing, while 19 (19%) indicated the prestige factor as a barrier.
Comment. Some of these results of valid and useful, but some of the most central are not. Unfortunately, this is another study in a fairly long series that interviews authors for their attitudes about OA journals without first informing them that a majority of OA journals charge no author-side fees (see one and two) and that, when they do, the fees are often waived or paid by sponsors. It appears that the researchers were themselves unaware of at least the first of these facts.
We already knew that authors don't like the idea of paying fees out of pocket. Now let's find out what they think about OA journals. And let's kill the term "author pays" once and for all. It's false for the majority of OA journals, which charge no fees. It's misleading for the rest for suggesting that authors have to pay out of pocket. It misleads both interviewers and interviewees in studies like this, and it only helps spread FUD.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/03/2006 02:14:00 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.
