Ann Okerson wrote:
Dear Readers: Various of our journal contracts now state
that
where authors pay for Open Choice (or something like it,
i.e.,
cover costs of publication of their articles to be free to
all
readers worldwide), library subscriptions will be rebated
for the
equivalent.
Questions:
1. How do you all imagine this will work in real life?
2. Has it happened already, i.e., has Open Choice or Author
Choice or whatever, been around for long enough? Or, will it
happen as of 2008 and if so, what are publishers preparing
to do
to adjust 2008 subscriptions?
Comment:
This is wonderful news, Ann, I am very glad to hear that
journal
contracts are now addressing Open Choice!
If librarians are wondering why it would make sense to have
contracts covering both subscriptions and Open Choice, the
recent
news release from APA on their Open Choice program, posted
to
Liblicense, may be instructive.
Excerpt:
The plan goes into effect after several years of
experimentation
with the APS journal Physiological Genomics. During a three
year
period,APS offered authors the choice of whether to pay an
open
access fee plus standard author charges. At the end of the
test
period, 18 percent of authors opted for open access. (Full
post
at http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/ListArchives/0707/
msg00015.html)
If 18% of the content of a journal is being paid for through
open
choice options, it makes sense for libraries to seek an
average
decrease in subscription rates of about 18%. There could
also be
good reasons why the institutions producing the research
which
are paying for the open choice (whether paying themselves,
or
indirectly through research grants) to be the greatest
beneficiaries.
Savvy administrators of such institutions will be looking
for
opportunities to leverage the article processing fee
payments to
offset subscription costs. Fellow librarians, if we want to
be
positioned for the future, we want to be the coordinating
organization within our university for article processing
fee
payments - regardless of whether they are paid for from
library
budgets, or other sources such as departmental funds or
research
grants.
When a number of payments go from one institution to
another,
there are efficiencies in coordination (one quarterly or
annual
payment, rather than many one-off payments). These
efficiencies
apply to both payer and payee. BioMedCentral recognizes
this,
and already has this worked into their library membership
model.
Any opinion expressed in this e-mail is that of the author
alone,
and does not reflect the opinion or policy of BC Electronic
Library Network or Simon Fraser University Library.
Heather Morrison, MLIS
The Imaginary Journal of Poetic Economics
http://poeticecon
omics.blogspot.com
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