Re: Stop fighting the inevitable - and free funds for open access!

Or you could let the government try its hand at this
business, 
mess it up (as it usually does), and then pick up the pieces
when 
the government realizes why it can't make this business work
well 
given its many bureaucratized (and political) handicaps.


Sandy Thatcher
Penn State University Press

>There seems to be some misunderstanding of publisher
positions 
>on open access. Many publishers are trying, even
embracing real 
>open access options for authors within the environment
of high 
>quality, highly read journals. For example, we at the
American 
>Institute of Physics offer Author Select, an open access
option, 
>for all our journals. We even lowered fees last this
year 
>crossing below the raised fees of some ardent OA
advocates.
>
>The real issue is whether governments should create
unfunded 
>mandates that force business models such as 6 or 12
month limits 
>on those who have a different publishing model.
>
>Let the market, not the government, decide what authors
and 
>readers want and need. Once the government decides, if
things do 
>not work out, we are really stuck.
>
>Marc
>
>>>>  Heather Morrison <heathermeln.bc.ca> 1/25/2007 7:17 PM >>>
>
>There are some in the publishing community who are
spending
>significant sums fighting open access - for example,
Nature
>recently reported that AAP spent $300,000 - $500,000 in
2006, as
>reported in their article, PR's "pitbull"
takes on open access -
>January 25, 2007.
>
>Funds that are currently being spent fighting open
access are
>funds that are not really needed for publishing per se,
and so it
>is reasonable to ask, what might be accomplished if
funds were
>redirected from fighting open access, to implementing
OA?
>
>[SNIP]
>
>Heather G. Morrison