eifl open access workshop, poznan, 21 september 2006 1 study on the economic and technical evolution...

eIFL Open Access Workshop, Poznan, 21 September 2006 1

Study on the economic and technical evolution of the scientific publication markets in Europe

Françoise Vandooren

Université libre de Bruxelles


• Background• Market analysis • Alternative access models• VAT• Preservation• Recommendations


Launched by EC DG Research, June 2004

Why?Dissemination and access to research results is a pillar in the

development of the ERAIt also consumes significant public fundsCurrent public debate reveals worries about the current conditions of

access and dissemination of scientific publications

Aim of the studyAssess evolutionsSeek to identify measures at European level which could help

improve the conditions governing access to and the exchange, dissemination and archiving of scientific publications.


Contractor

Université Libre de Bruxelles (B)In collaboration with

Université de Toulouse 1 (F)

Multifaceted team :

Economists from ECARES* and IDEI***European Centre for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics (ULB)**Institut d’Economie Industrielle (UT1)

Information scientists from ULB and UT1 libraries


Methodology

Literature survey

Data collection for economic analysis

Consultation of stakeholders


Market trends

• Many publishers in the market. Two big groups: For-profits (FP) and Not-for-profits (NFP), which include learned societies and university presses.

• Some big publishers have grown very fast, through: (i) new journal introduction; (ii) running journals from learned societies; (iii) mergers.

• No monopoly, rather oligopoly but :– Concentration in certain domains


Prices and business models

1975-1995 : print journals• Steep price increase 300% beyond inflation• Library-pay subscription model

1995 -> transition to electronic journals• Slower increase of prices but additional e-fees• Still dominant library-pay model + library consortia +

bundling strategies “Big Deal”• New models: open access, author-pay


Price study of FP and NFP journals

Economic analysis based on 2700 journals from ISI-JCR in 22 domains

• FP journals are 2.7 to 3 times more expensive than NFP journals for given domain, age and citation count

• NFP journals are more cited• Highly cited journals are more expensive, and FP

journals overcharge NFP wrt citations• Large differences of prices across domains


Prices of FP and NFP journals:interpretation

• Large price differences are evidence of market power: Researchers really need access to whole stock of knowledge.

• Large differences in prices and positive link between prices and citations is evidence of value-based pricing rather than cost-based pricing


Business models in electronic era

• Bundling strategies

• Open access journals


Bundling strategies

Selling licences to bundles of journals to library consortia

+ increased access for researchers and increase in usage- lack of price sensitivity of reader- lack of flexibility of contracts

- Long term

- Based on historical amount of print journals

- Cancellation unattractive

- Limits residual budget for other journals


Open Access journals

+2300 full-text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals

Sources of income: public funding, selling print subscriptions, author-pay

• Support by public authorities to develop portals providing free access to scholarly journals– Current issues; e.g. Japan J-STAGE 180 journals; Indian

Academy of Sciences; Latin America SciELO >200 journals– Back issues; e.g. Persée in France-> question of visibility and accessibility of European research?


Open Access journals (2)

Author-pay• Pros: price sensitivity of the author, more price

competition, better dissemination• Cons: financing - ability to pay of the author

Hybrid journals (Springer Open Choice, Blackwell Online Open, OUP Oxford Open, Elsevier physics journals)


Other open access alternatives: e-print archives or repositories

Advantages: no barriers to access, enhanced visibility and accessibility may lead to higher citations

Questions raised: disciplinary differences, quality of archived documents, copyright, costs, quantity

Concerns expressed by publishers: open access might lead to journal cancellations and threaten the scholarly publishing system


Research funding bodies new access policies

Articles arising from the funded research are to be openly and widely available, 6 to 12 months after publication, through deposit in open access e-print archives (or by being published in open access journals)

– National Institutes of Health in US – Research Councils and Wellcome Trust in the UK – CERN in Switzerland, CNRS in France, DFG and MPG in

Germany …

Publishers’ reactions: respect embargo of up to a year


Alternatives: conclusionsICTs offer opportunities to develop new scholarly communication

systems

There is a role for funding bodies and universities in shaping models for publishing and communicating research results, e.g.:

• Require accessibility of research results in open access archives, adapted to research practices in different disciplines

• Promote new journal business models, i.e. provide funding for author publication costs

• Design rankings of “social responsibility” of scientific journals, next to citation counts, in terms of their contribution to good practices of efficient dissemination and preservation


VAT on electronic publications

• Situation in EU member states re VATReduced rates applicable to goods and services listed in Annex H

-> OK for printed books, newspapers and periodicals-> not for electronically supplied services, incl. electronic publications

-> differences across countries

-> additional burden on library budget

• Tax refund: the Swedish caseVAT is repaid by the state to universities and other organisations which do not themselves charge VAT


Perpetual access and preservation of electronic publications

Permanent access to archivesAccess to previously licensed material: heterogeneity of contract provisions and

additional costDigitising print journals and providing online access to electronic archives: publishers’

platforms and third parties’ initiatives like JSTOR, PubMed Central, Persée…

Preservation for the future Roles and responsibilities of the different actors on the market not yet clearly defined

• Legal deposit of electronic resources: legislations to be adapted• Agreements with national libraries for publishers’ voluntary deposit • Responsibility of public institutions requiring public-sector commitment and funding


RecommendationsA. Access issues

1. Guarantee public access to publicly-funded research results shortly after publication

2. Aim at a “level-playing field” in terms of business models in publishing

3. Develop “extended quality” rankings of scientific journals4. Guarantee perennial access to scholarly journal digital

archives5. Foster interoperable tools to improve knowledge visibility,

accessibility and dissemination


RecommendationsB. Market

1. Promote pro-competitive pricing strategies2. Scrutinize future significant mergers3. Promote the development of electronic publications

– VAT– European SSH journals


RecommendationsC. Follow up

1. Setting-up an advisory committee

2. Further investigations• Copyright provisions

• Economic analysis of alternative forms of dissemination

• Technological developments


Thank you!

The full report is

available onhttp://ec.europa.eu/research/science-

society/pdf/

scientific-publication-study_en.pdf

eifl open access workshop, poznan, 21 september 2006 1 study on the economic and technical evolution...

Documents

eifl open access workshop

current conditions of

cited journals

bruxelles slide

domains fp journals

conditions governing

nfp journals economic

prices of fp