Should publishers offer OA?Thomas J. WalkerUniversity of Florida
Outline• OA models for publishers
• Two BioOne publishers that offer OA
• What BioOne publishers should do
Who benefits from open access?
• Researchers
• Teachers
• Students
• The public
Who is afraid of open access?
• Most publishers
Open Access models
• Author self-archiving
Open Access models
• Author self-archiving
• OA sold by the article(=“hybrid model”)
PNAS3 Apr 2007 issue
$1100 price of OA per article
24% (16 of the 68 articles
in this issue are OA)
PNAS3 Apr 2007 issue
$1100 price of OA per article
24%OA
All articles freelyweb accessible6 months after
publication
G. Eysenbach. 2006. The open access advantage. J Med Internet Res 8(2).
Citations to articles published in PNAS in last half of 2004
Open Access models
• Author self-archiving
• OA sold by the article(=“hybrid model”)
• 100% OA
FloridaEntomological
Society 100% OA since 1994
Florida Entomological Society• 1993 OA endorsed• 1994 OA via PDF to all articles (1994 forward)
Florida Entomological Society• 1993 OA endorsed• 1994 OA via PDF to all articles (1994 forward)
• 1999 OA to complete back-file (1917-1993)
FES: Revenues from library subscriptions
0
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500
15000
17500
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Rev
enue
s (c
onst
ant $
$)
Florida Entomological Society• 1993 OA endorsed• 1994 OA via PDF to all articles (1994 forward)
• 1999 OA to complete back file (1917-1993)
• 2001 Obligatory OA fees
Florida EntomologistObligatory OA fees
Articles $100
Scientific notes $ 50
FES: Initial year of OA fees
0
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500
15000
17500
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Rev
enue
s (c
onst
ant $
$)
Net OA fees
Library subscriptions
Florida Entomological Society• 1993 OA endorsed• 1994 OA via PDF to all articles (1994 forward)
• 1999 OA to complete back file (1917-1993)
• 2001 Obligatory OA fees• 2002 OA on BioOne (2002 forward)
FES: Summary of OA revenue effects
0
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500
15000
17500
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Rev
enue
s (c
onst
ant $
$)
Start-up costs for BioOne
Net OA fees
Library subscriptions
Entomological Society
of Americacurrently ca. 67% OA
Entomological Society of America
• 1995 GB approves OA sales
• 1997 GB cancels approval
• 1999 GB approves OA sales again
• 2000 OA sales begin!
ESA: Percentage of authors buying OA
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Au
tho
rs b
uyi
ng
OA
(%
)
Envir Entomol
J Med Entomol
Ann Entomol Soc Am
J Econ Entomol
Sum of journals
ESA: Gross revenues from OA sales
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Au
tho
rs b
uyi
ng
OA
(%
)
$0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000
$90,000
Gro
ss O
A I
nco
me
(US
D)
Percentage of authors buying OA
Gross OA income
How ESA’s hybrid model generated >$74,000 per year
Year No. of OA Average articles price
2004 550 $143
2005 510 $146
2006 537 $150
ESA price for OA by the article = 75% of the cost of 100 paper reprints
Current prices of OA by the article
Entomological Society of America [ESA] (1 to 20 pages) $55 to $314 Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Journal of Economic EntomologyEnvironmental EntomologyJournal of Medical Entomology
Current prices of OA by the article
Entomological Society of America [ESA] (1 to 20 pages) $55 to $314 Annals of the Entomological Society of America
Journal of Economic EntomologyEnvironmental EntomologyJournal of Medical Entomology
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography [ASLO] $350 Limnology and Oceanography Limnology and Oceanography: Methods
National Academy of Sciences $1100Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Company of Biologists $2560Journal of Experimental BiologyDevelopmentJournal of Cell Science
Springer $3000 OpenChoice
Elsevier $3000 Sponsored Article program
Taylor & Francis $3100 iOpenAccess
What BioOne publishers should do….
• Sell OA to your authors at a fair price
Setting the price of OA by the article
• Price too high– Authors/members will recognize the attempt to profiteer– Service will not be profitable
Setting the price of OA by the article
• Price too high– Authors/members will recognize the attempt to profiteer– Service will not be profitable
• Price too low– So many will buy OA that restricted-access revenues
will be threatened
What BioOne publishers should do….
• Sell OA to your authors at a fair price
• Provide free access to electronic back-files
Summary
Society-based publishersshould be fiscally responsible
facilitators of OA, not opponents.
For more on these topics, find my home page (http://tjwalker.ifas.ufl.edu) and click on “Web access to traditionally published journals”