New Paper From Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI): “The Cost and Price of Public Access to Scholarly Publications: A Synthesis”

From Invest in Open Infrastructure (IOI):

As part of our project to investigate “reasonable costs” for public access to United States federally funded research and scientific data, we have developed a synthesis report focused on the multi-model scholarly publication ecosystem that facilitates public access as required by the Nelson Memo. This paper [written by Jennifer Kemp and Katherine Skinner] outlines the historical developments that have shaped the current landscape, the key financial (cost and payment) stakeholders in the system, and the models and approaches that have developed in the continued shift to public and open access.

This paper is a companion to the February 2024 report, The Cost and Price of Public Access to Research Data: A Synthesis.

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 Key Observations and Findings

1. The scholarly communications ecosystem is in a state of adaptive experimentation. Business model experimentation has led to the emergence of several models that either adapt or borrow from the traditional subscription model. These and other developments in the landscape, combined with uncertainty in the larger political context, make for a rapidly moving target.
2. Definitions of basic key concepts are still emerging. This report refines price and cost from IOI’s earlier, related paper on research data to contextualize the discussion of scholarly publications. Terms like “publisher” and how common varieties of Open Access are referred to are set out in this report with the understanding that a lack of consensus on preferred language will likely continue for some time.
3. Cost and price transparency have become more common. Mandates like the OSTP Nelson Memo have prompted more publishers to provide cost and price transparency information. The literature on this landscape is plentiful but cohesive, “real-worldˮ information on actual costs and payments is lacking and is needed to better support the breadth of stakeholders navigating this landscape.
4. Interdependencies are a factor. Though prices are set for specific formats, such as APCs for journals, publications are often interrelated, for example, in terms of resources, workflows and related outputs, complicating the question of what is reasonable for scholarly publications, particularly at the system level.
5. Stakeholder scenarios can help understand prices and costs. Like business models, stakeholders are very varied. Starting to understand what is reasonable requires asking for which stakeholders and roles. This report draws on a large body of literature on costs and prices that can help inform collaborative efforts to address these questions across stakeholders.

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Direct to Full Text Paper (October 31, 2024)
+ The Cost and Price of Public Access to Scholarly Publications: A Synthesis
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14013059
Authors: Jennifer Kemp and Katherine Skinner.

See Also: RLUK Video Recording  RLUK Digital Shift Forum Video Recording (October 30, 2024): The State of Open Infrastructure
Presentation by Kaitlin Thaney, IOI Executive Director

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Data Files, Journal Articles, News, Open Access, Scholarly Communications, Video Recordings