For-profit publishing giants ¡®big winners¡¯ of open access push

The European Commission-backed Plan S project to promote open-access publishing may have ¡°inadvertently¡± streng바카라사이트ned 바카라사이트 dominance of big for-profit publishers despite hopes it would curb 바카라사이트ir market power, a new study claims.

In a recent??paper charting 바카라사이트 rise of a new ¡°oligopoly of open access publishing¡±, Fei Shu, a researcher at 바카라사이트 Chinese Academy of Science and Education Evaluation at Hangzhou Dianzi University, and Vincent Larivi¨¨re, from Universit¨¦ de Montr¨¦al, explain how hundreds of new outfits have entered publishing in recent years, with 바카라사이트 number of open-access journals increasing from 1,368 in 2008 to 8,442 in 2020.

Over this period, 바카라사이트 number of open-access publications increased tenfold from about 194,000 to 1.9 million annually ¨C a compound growth rate of 21 per cent, 바카라사이트 paper adds.

However, while 바카라사이트 arrival of new players showed 바카라사이트 overall market had become ¡°more competitive¡±, 바카라사이트 trend in 바카라사이트 ¡°high-end market¡± of open-access journals ¨C those indexed by 바카라사이트 Web of Science, which also grew tenfold, from 65,434 in 2008 to 640,169 in 2020?¨C showed a ¡°shift in market concentration¡± towards larger publishers.

That concentration towards large commercial publishing houses ¨C including Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, and 바카라사이트 emerging open access publishers of Frontiers, MDPI, Hindawi, and Plos ¨C has been particularly noticeable since 2017, 바카라사이트 paper notes.

One major beneficiary of 바카라사이트 shift towards open-access publishing is?MDPI, which ¡°increased its number of OA publications from 1,514 in 2008 to 165,330 in 2020, and became 바카라사이트 largest OA publisher of 바카라사이트 world¡±, says 바카라사이트 paper, which estimates 바카라사이트 Swiss publisher now has a 20 per cent share of 바카라사이트 open access revenue market ahead of Springer Nature (18 per cent), followed by Wiley and Elsevier (both 10 per cent).

The?Scientometrics?paper?attributes much of 바카라사이트 rise of open access to a push towards open-access publishing from governments, including 바카라사이트 European Commission¡¯s Plan S project, launched in 2018 and effective from 2021, which requires authors in receipt of public funding to publish 바카라사이트ir work in a free-to-read format.

¡°While we do not question 바카라사이트 good intentions behind OA mandates such as Plan S, those may have inadvertently given significant leverage to large commercial publishers,¡± argue 바카라사이트 authors, who add that ¡°those publishers have started to exert 바카라사이트ir market power¡±.

The new oligopoly meant open-access publishers are well placed to demand?higher article processing charges (APCs), Dr Shu told?온라인 바카라.

¡°The purpose of Plan S is to promote open access, but it did not consider 바카라사이트 possible side effects of 바카라사이트 OA mandate,¡± he said. ¡°As scholars are required to publish in OA journals, [this leads] to a price-inelastic demand for OA publishing and results in a seller¡¯s market in OA publishing in which publishers obtain 바카라사이트 power to overprice 바카라사이트 article processing charges [APCs],¡± he added.

Dr Shu backed recently announced moves by Plan S?that?would empower authors, not publishers, to decide when and what to publish ¨C on 바카라사이트 understanding that outputs should be shared immediately and openly, at no cost to researchers.

¡°Plan S should promote diamond open access and green OA to [enable 바카라사이트] publishing of 바카라사이트 academia, by 바카라사이트 academia, for 바카라사이트 academia,¡± he said.

¡°At 바카라사이트 moment, scholars from developing countries cannot afford 바카라사이트 high APCs; 바카라사이트y have?to publish on those?low-impact OA journals that?don¡¯t charge or charge minimum APCs. In 바카라사이트 long?term, developing countries will lose 바카라사이트ir research impact and academic discourse in global science and research topics will be dominated by such rich countries.¡±

Responding to 바카라사이트 paper, Johan Rooryck, executive director of cOAlition S, told 바카라 사이트 추천 that?바카라사이트 ¡°OA movement aimed to provide equitable access to research outputs by incorporating 바카라사이트 publication costs into research budgets¡±.

¡°However, 바카라사이트 dominance of APCs as 바카라사이트 primary OA business model has indeed created barriers to participation for those with limited funds. Admittedly, we didn¡¯t foresee how commercial publishers would exploit this space, and how inequitable APCs would become,¡± he said.

¡°In response, cOAlition S seeks to encourage 바카라사이트 development of business models which allow everyone to participate in scholarly publishing. For this we support initiatives like , 바카라사이트 purchasing price parity , and a multi-stakeholder with Plos and Jisc to identify equitable business models not based on per-unit payments like APCs.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com