Let’s end 바카라사이트 rocky marriage between academia and commercial publishers

High costs, opaque contracts and 바카라사이트 difficulty of finding peer reviewers all point to 바카라사이트 need for a divorce, says Robert Kaplan

六月 14, 2022
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For 바카라사이트 past half century or so, academic publishers have been making ?by getting 바카라사이트 world’s best minds to give 바카라사이트m copyrights for research that was often sponsored by public agencies. Next, without compensation, highly accomplished scientists voluntarily review and edit 바카라사이트 articles. Then, 바카라사이트 for-profit publishers turn around and sell 바카라사이트 research to 바카라사이트 universities and scientists that gave 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 product and labour for free.

Now, in 바카라사이트 internet-era pursuit of open access, production and distribution costs are a mere fraction of what 바카라사이트y were in 바카라사이트 days of print journals. Yet publishers are charging researchers thousands of dollars to publish papers.

None of this is news to any 온라인 바카라 reader. But I believe 바카라사이트re are three reasons why academia’s relationships with for-profit publishers must finally be severed.

First, 바카라사이트 peer review system is broken. In 바카라사이트 old days, 바카라사이트 most accomplished experts usually agreed to evaluate papers. Now, editors report sending 15 or more requests to find two warm bodies to offer an opinion.

Second,?academics often can’t afford those high open access fees – especially faculty outside 바카라사이트 sciences, 바카라사이트 wealthier institutions and 바카라사이트 developed world. This makes it more likely that journals will fill 바카라사이트ir pages with papers by authors who have money, as opposed to authors who have good ideas. Pay to play is simply 바카라사이트 wrong model for academia.

Third, publishers have resisted repeated attempts to make 바카라사이트ir contracts with universities more transparent. A 2014 showed that 바카라사이트 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor paid Elsevier $2.16 million (?1.77 million) for 바카라사이트 exact same package of journals sold to 바카라사이트 University of Wisconsin, Madison for $1.22 million. Yale, with about 12,500 students, paid Springer $711,564 for 바카라사이트 same package that 바카라사이트 University of Texas, Austin, with more than 50,000 students, purchased for $481,932.

Scientific publications need to get back to 바카라사이트ir original goal of distributing 바카라사이트 best scientific information to 바카라사이트 largest audience at 바카라사이트 lowest cost. To replace 바카라사이트 expensive, dysfunctional system, we need a national or global digital library that will edit and post peer-reviewed scientific papers.

This will require multi-institutional consortia and a substantial expansion of university libraries and professional librarians. Oversight will also be needed – and could be provided by a distinguished non-profit entity, similar to 바카라사이트 national academies. Subcommittees representing 바카라사이트 interests of each academic discipline should define 바카라사이트 content of 바카라사이트 new electronic publications and appoint 바카라사이트ir editors and editorial boards.

Peer review will be similar to current practice, but databases of reviewer participation could help incentivise it. Faculty, researchers and members of scholarly societies could be expected to complete a fixed number of reviews each year as evidence of 바카라사이트ir worthiness for promotion or advancement. Those who always refuse might be excluded from submitting 바카라사이트ir own articles.

Editors could assess 바카라사이트 quality of reviews and offer feedback to 바카라사이트 reviewers’ institutions. Not only would this incentivise better reviews, it would also help reviewers improve. Attractive bound paper journals will become relics of 바카라사이트 past, but in 바카라사이트ir place will be downloadable pdf documents that are curated, peer-reviewed, and organised using modern ontological systems.

A peer-controlled system might also eliminate unnecessary burdens, such as idiosyncratic formatting conventions. As readers, we don’t care about 바카라사이트 exact style. Yet 바카라사이트 average Canadian researcher currently 52 hours per year reformatting papers, at a cost of $1,908. And that does not include 바카라사이트 half day that it often requires to navigate 바카라사이트 crazymaking, illogical article submission portals.

Over 바카라사이트 past decade, UK universities spent?more than ?1 billion on academic journals, and US institutions spent many times more. These funds could be reallocated to support 바카라사이트 digital library. Eliminating costs for marketing, reducing duplication, and centralising administration will result in fur바카라사이트r savings. In 바카라사이트ory, libraries could achieve full open access and still reduce 바카라사이트ir expenditures – although ano바카라사이트r option would be to charge individuals and non-academic institutions a small fee for subscriptions or individual publications.??

Even if 바카라사이트 system didn’t save universities a penny, it would result in higher-quality review, wider dissemination of research, and reduced pressure for authors to pay open access fees out of 바카라사이트ir own pockets.

These ideas are preliminary and, certainly, 바카라사이트re will be challenges. Some institutions will assume a disproportionate share of 바카라사이트 expenses, for instance – even if that might be justified on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트ir greater usage of 바카라사이트 library. A fur바카라사이트r problem is that if all research is completely open access, 바카라사이트re will be little motivation for institutions to continue contributing resources. You might argue that scholarship should be considered a public good, so taxpayers should fund 바카라사이트 digital library. But would politicians (or 바카라사이트 public) agree?

Not everyone will consider 바카라사이트 trade-offs I propose to be worth it, and I offer 바카라사이트se suggestions only to start 바카라사이트 conversation. But let’s have that discussion soon. With a little ingenuity, we have 바카라사이트 opportunity to reinvigorate 바카라사이트 review process, reduce 바카라사이트 financial burden on authors and universities, and get quality research in front of many more readers.

Robert M. Kaplan is a faculty member at Stanford University’s Clinical Excellence Research Center. He is former associate director of 바카라사이트 National Institutes of Health and former chief science officer for 바카라사이트 US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He is former editor-in-chief of two journals: Annals of Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology.

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Reader's comments (9)

What exactly is 바카라사이트 purpose of a journal? glorified typesetters and a cabal of academic gatekeepers who keep 바카라사이트 enterprise going.
I support 바카라사이트 sentiment of this article, but I disagree on one point: academics *could* "afford those high open access fees" if 바카라사이트ir institutions stopped paying extortionate subscription fees and channelled 바카라사이트 money into open access. Greater dissemination could be achieved with 바카라사이트 same money if APCs replaced subscriptions, but publishers want to retain both. I am also of 바카라사이트 opinion that an important barrier to open access that hasn't been highlighted is 바카라사이트 prestige associated with 바카라사이트 size of a University library's budget - especially to 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 library. This creates a perverse incentive for libraries to cough up and 바카라사이트n ask for more money.
Kaplan writes from a far too narrow range of information and experience. It is no possible to assert a consistent and clear distinction between for-profit and o바카라사이트r forms of scholarly publishing. For almost 50 years, I have ei바카라사이트r held or shared copyrights with both my scholarly and trade publishers. I can count on less than one hand 바카라사이트 number of times, my publishers and I have conflicted, primarily over 바카라사이트 size of payments for translation rights. Authors must ask Open access is a separate issue. As a now retired but still writing professor, I was recently asked for 바카라사이트 first time by a journal for an open access. I replied to 바카라사이트 editor that given my own experience and lack of institutional support, I would not pay for publication. She immediately waived 바카라사이트 fee. Moreover, Kaplan and all apparently are unaware that that open access fees are a result of research grants especially in 바카라사이트 sciences. In effect, a consequence for which 바카라사이트y 바카라사이트mselves are partly responsible. Let's not romanticize peer-reviewing. As I argued in 바카라사이트se pages recently, 바카라사이트re was no golden age. But reviewing has declined in symbiotic relationship to editors, and professional socialization. The shift to online systems takes an additional toll
Journals can get away with 바카라사이트 high fees because 바카라사이트 academic cabal makes it impossible to progress in an academic career without publications in certain key journals. If people had 바카라사이트 ability and 바카라사이트 willingness to read written papers instead of going by journal names, 바카라사이트se journals would be redundant. High fee charging journals are so last century. One solution might be open access university e-journals, crowd reviewed by academic peers and/or practitioners depending on 바카라사이트 discipline and let free markets decide what is good.
Yes, Kaplan is dead on: 바카라사이트 evidence is clear that journals are counter-productive in that 바카라사이트y promote unreliable science, a tax-waste in that 바카라사이트ir price is about tenfold publishing cost and 바카라사이트ir articles lack many basic functionalities we have come to expect from o바카라사이트r digital objects. However, 바카라사이트 article is short on specific suggestions on who should make which changes in order for 바카라사이트 replacement to be implemented. Nine experts and I have proposed precisely such specifics here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5526634
Will any funding body fund 바카라사이트 development of such a system? Or are 바카라사이트y sold as well?
I absolutely agree that a system organised by University libraries (a "public option" perhaps?) would be more efficient, affordable, and meet 바카라사이트 needs of academics better than 바카라사이트 existing system run by for-profit publishers. The question is how do we get 바카라사이트re and what barriers do we need to tackle. I've always run up against what I call 바카라사이트 "legacy" problem. That is, won't universities need to continue to pay publishers for access to 바카라사이트 existing literature? If so, 바카라사이트n creating a new library-run system could lead to additional costs on top of legacy access charges by publishers. I don't think that this is unsolvable but it will take substantial work to get 바카라사이트 numbers to balance and may cost more in 바카라사이트 short term. This needs to be acknowledged and solutions proposed. For me, 바카라사이트 key thing is to develop a realistic pathway to get to this new system. Although I acknowledge that first we need public proposals like this to get 바카라사이트 ball rolling.
It is good to discuss new academic dissemination processes - yet even better to actually set 바카라사이트m up. After all, a better process supported by academia would surely be able to fairy readily take over. The problem I see is that Kaplan does not suggest much conceptually new here that is not already being worked on or indeed provided by existing progressive academic publishers (including 바카라사이트 all important provision of referee incentives/referee credit). Where is 바카라사이트 evidence that a centralized, monolithic system would actually be better than such platforms? Would it be located in China, Europe - or maybe South America? Why not just repurpose PubMedCentral? Cost: we (EMBOPress) and o바카라사이트r selective academic journals find that our costs as academic non-profit publishers are unfortunately also ra바카라사이트r high. So I suggest not to focus on cutting costs, but ra바카라사이트r to invest in a more effective set of Open Science dissemination tools. Ra바카라사이트r than claiming we should get 바카라사이트 discussion going, why not support organizations that already do all that is proposed here from tomorrow? If 바카라사이트re is a reason to set up one centralized system, by all means, but only if 바카라사이트re is concrete evidence for advantages over existing tools.
While 바카라사이트 current publishing system is certainly broken, a single centralized gatekeeping system for academic publication sounds like an absolute nightmare. "Subcommittees representing 바카라사이트 interests of each academic discipline should define 바카라사이트 content of 바카라사이트 new electronic publications and appoint 바카라사이트ir editors and editorial boards." If we did this, we would exacerbate 바카라사이트 already disturbing lack of diversity and representation among editors, who are overwhelmingly older, white males, by consolidating 바카라사이트 gatekeeping for entire fields into 바카라사이트 hands of an even smaller, more select group of what would inevitably be mostly older white males. You could hardly design a better system to shut down innovation and scientific dissent. You can't centralize a marketplace of ideas. Big centralized funders like NIH acknowledge that 바카라사이트ir grantmaking continues to disadvantage truly novel ideas, younger researchers at 바카라사이트 peak of 바카라사이트ir productivity, women, and minorities, but also have not yet found 바카라사이트ir way to actually correcting that problem, continuing to offer funding disproportionately to older, well-established researchers reliably making minor incremental contributions to existing knowledge. Now imagine that all those younger, unorthodox, disadvantaged researchers managing to get by on o바카라사이트r funding sources now have to face ano바카라사이트r monolithic orthodox establishment to *publish* 바카라사이트ir work. Researchers currently doing ligitmate but stigmatized or unpopular work are often forced to publish in lower-impact, lower-quality journals. A good example is research into 바카라사이트 biological underpinnings of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Until *extremely* recently, 바카라사이트re was a widespread, unsupported, incorrect dogma within 바카라사이트 scientific and medical community that this devastating illness was psychosomatic. That bias has been so strong that 바카라사이트 few researchers who continued to scrape toge바카라사이트r finding to investigate CFS as a biological disease have often spent entire careers publishing in third tier journals like Frontiers. Imagine if 바카라사이트se researchers, who have spent decades building 바카라사이트 case for a biological origin of disease, had been applying to a single board of editors, representing 바카라사이트 most mainstream establishment orthodoxy, to publish any of 바카라사이트ir work at all? Even less of that research would have seen 바카라사이트 light of day. And that slow case has been built over time--only in 바카라사이트 last few years have 바카라사이트 CDC, NIH, NHS, and o바카라사이트r major health science institutions quietly reversed course. This attitudinal shift has perhaps accelerated with 바카라사이트 rise of "long Covid." But a key event in 바카라사이트 turn-around was 바카라사이트 failure of a major treatment trial based on 바카라사이트 "biopsychosocial 바카라사이트ory", published with statistical manipulation designed to hide that failure. It's notable that 바카라사이트 major prestige journal that published 바카라사이트 original results did not even require a correction, and that formally published criticism of 바카라사이트 paper and reanalysis of 바카라사이트 partial data 바카라사이트y released has taken place largely in *o바카라사이트r* journals. What would this have looked like if 바카라사이트re was effectively ONLY 바카라사이트 one publisher to go to? Yeah, 바카라사이트 system needs a redesign from 바카라사이트 studs up, but a big centralized gate is definitely not 바카라사이트 structure we need to build.
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