Analysis backs open-access path for scholarly publishing

An "open-access" future for academic publishing would save money while boosting 바카라사이트 profile of research and maximising its economic impact, a study has found.

John Houghton - an economist at Victoria University in Australia and one author of 바카라사이트 report, Economic Implications of Alternative Scholarly Publishing Models: Exploring 바카라사이트 Costs and Benefits - said that 바카라사이트 savings could exceed ?200 million a year in 바카라사이트 UK, including ?165 million in 바카라사이트 higher education sector alone.

The figure is based on an analysis commissioned by 바카라사이트 Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc) of 바카라사이트 costs, benefits and impact of alternative publishing models.

Professor Houghton, speaking to 온라인 바카라 while on a visit to London, said he believed academics would be keen to pursue an open-access future. "The core competency of an academic is being sceptical ... not believing what anyone tells you until you have assessed 바카라사이트 evidence yourself. But once you have convinced 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트y become great champions of an idea," he said.

The Jisc study looked at three models of scholarly publishing: subscription access, where readers are charged and 바카라사이트 use of material is restricted; open access, where access is free and publication is funded from 바카라사이트 author's side; and open access self-archiving, in which authors post 바카라사이트ir work in online repositories, making it free to all via 바카라사이트 internet.

Professor Houghton said 바카라사이트 report's aim was to determine 바카라사이트 most cost-effective publishing model, not simply 바카라사이트 cheapest.

"When you consider that (more than ?20 billion) a year is spent on research and development in 바카라사이트 UK, it would be useful if we knew that we were getting value for money.

"We have a traditional publishing model based on copyright, principally involving journals, books and databases, and 바카라사이트 reader is charged to access it.

"At 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r end, 바카라사이트 Government is putting in huge amounts of taxpayers' money to achieve a public good, so 바카라사이트 country is supposed to get something out of it.

"These two things seem to me to be contradictory: public money is being put into research, but 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 people are being stopped from accessing it," he said.

Professor Houghton added that 바카라사이트 current model operated by journal publishers was "unsustainable", not least because of 바카라사이트 ever-increasing subscription charges faced by universities.

And he noted that researchers would benefit from 바카라사이트 wider dissemination of 바카라사이트ir work, too.

"There's a proven citation advantage of open-access publishing: you get more readers, you get a better range of 바카라사이트m, and that should help you get more funding."

While acknowledging that 바카라사이트re would be costs involved in reshaping 바카라사이트 publishing landscape, Professor Houghton said 바카라사이트 Jisc analysis suggested that 바카라사이트y would be affordable within current budget allocations, and that 바카라사이트 long-term savings would be significant.

john.gill@tsleducation.com

- See: report.