0.7 Subscription options and pricing  (Page 9/10)

Open-access publishing models

A 2008 survey of scholarly publishers reported that 26% of nonprofit publishers offer either full or partial open-access journals. Funding models for open access in use by nonprofit publishers include a subsidy from the parent organization (35%), publication fees (17%), grants (13%), industry sponsors (10%), and advertising (1%). Cox and Cox (2008), 34-35. The Cox and Cox survey findings about funding type for nonprofit open-access journals are supported, in part, by the study by Kaufman-Wills (although the latter found display advertising to be the most prevalent source of income for open-access journals). Kaufman-Wills (2006), 17. On advertising and sponsorships, see Crow 2005. On publication fees, see Crow and Goldstein (2004), 15-21. The appropriateness of any given income model or combination of models will depend on the circumstances of a particular journal. As noted in Chapter Six, several providers offer free or low-cost online distribution services for open-access journals.

As defined above, open access is free (to the end user) Internet access to research literature. In practice, however, there is an access continuum that includes varying degrees of openness. For example, some publishers impose embargoes, making their content available online without charge at some specified period after publication. These embargoes range anywhere from two to thirty-six months, though lengths of six to twelve months seem most prevalent. A few society publishers apply a “reverse embargo,” wherein content is available free online for the first month after publication, after which time it goes behind a subscription gate. The length of the embargo often depends on how fast research cycles within the discipline.

Another common form of partial open access is a hybrid approach that publishes both open-access and non-open-access articles in the same journal. This approach allows an author (or the author’s proxy, such as a funding agency) to make an article available open access by paying a publication fee that covers (in full or in part) the cost of publishing the article. Theoretically, the publisher should make some provision for reducing the subscription price of the journal as the proportion of open-access articles to the journal increases. Such publication fees vary by publisher and range from around $500 to $3,000 per article. Cox and Cox (2008), 36. Some publishers use a hybrid model to accommodate funder self-archiving policies (see below). Additionally, some publishers make a percentage of their articles available via open access without having a discretionary open access program.

Funder online archiving mandates

Some government and private funders of scientific research have determined that maximizing their funding investments requires that the results of the funded research reach the widest possible audience. As a result, a number of research funders have implemented policies requiring deposit of funded research in an open-access repository For a directory of open-access repositories, see (External Link) . as a condition of the grant. Funders implementing such policies include the National Institutes of Health, For guides to complying with the NIH public access policy, see (External Link) and Carroll (2008). the Wellcome Trust, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the European Research Council. Additionally, other funders recommend such deposit or provide additional funds to cover publication fees in open-access or hybrid open-access journals. Several services provide clearinghouses of information on funder depository requirements. For a summary of policies given by various research funders as part of their grant awards, see the Registry of Open Access Repository Material Archiving Policies (ROARMAP) at (External Link) and JULET at (External Link) .