[lbo-talk] A public square

[Tim Francis-Wright]

Joseph Catron wrote:
> How about the racket of high-end academic publishers who solicit
> articles from professors, pay the authors little or nothing, then sell
> them back to the same institutions that funded the research for
> thousands of dollars?  The professors have little choice but to go
> along with it, since their tenure and promotions rely upon publication
> in prestigious sources.  And the institutions need the articles for
> their ongoing research.

Among the more successful rejoinders to this for of academic extortion
is the open-source journal movement.  The journals with which I am
most familiar (under the Public Library of Science umbrella) charge
fess for inclusion that are waived for those unable to pay (see
http://www.plos.org/journals/pubfees.html).  PLoS (electronic) journals
are free and openly distributable.  The model seems to work for niche
journals that have volunteer editorial boards, but whether it works in
the long run for more ambitious journals (such as PLoS Medicine and PLoS
Biology, which require professional staff) is not so evident.

--tim francis-wright

PS for Chuck: The public library in my town reduces what it pays for
chronic bestsellers by culling good hardcover copies of them from the
books donated for the twice-yearly book sales.