15.1 Open access journal literature is an open educational resource  (Page 9/16)

There may be separate issues that people mistaken attribute to OA, such as print vs. electronic, publication schedules, commercial vs. non-commercial publishers, etc. But, considering the diversity of business models for OA journals, none of them jumps out as a fundamentally flawed model; and if any of them are, I see no reason to think the market will be unable to self-correct. In OA publishing as it was with toll-access, I think there will be many different business models for journals, which will be operated by many different types of organizations. Some people have a problem with that uncertainty and say that OA publishing has no business model; I see the evolutionary benefits of diversity, and expect therefore that OA publishing will be with us for some time to come.

This is not to say there aren’t many, many challenges, but I don’t think of these will prove fatal.

5. steelgraham - september 6th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

To quote Stevan H:-

Quoted text

Paradoxically, it is in recognizing and supporting OA’s much more general mission that we can also best support its health-related aspects.”

Graham

6. redsevenone - september 6th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

Graham – Stevan is a has major hero status around here. Your quote hits the mark and misses the one point often yelled about and then tacitly ignored. The long established publishing houses, the ones who create the journal which we then read in print, fear the loss of their power, read Income, if Open Access is embraced universally. It is like so many other industries who have suddenly seen the ‘Gravy train leavin’ the station without them’ to quote the late Huey P. Long. Will the industry rationalize itself? Yes it will. Will the dissemination of knowledge survive and prosper? Yes it will. Will the status quo prevail? No, it will not.

The only question of any relevance is, as I see it, who collects the money and how will it be distributed. We have a massive Print on Demand system coming on line before the end of the year. We would hope the there is a royalty system in place by that time so we can pay our way. We will consume enough material to keep at least one service running. I have my doubts, however whether the arguing will end by then.

I am not suggesting at the end of the day it should be about money, but that we need to get that issue resolved so that everyone can get on with the Real Work

Martin G. Smith Ph.D – Coordinator

RedSeven Services – MATH Not METH

ABOTA*-ONAMISSION

[*A Bridge Over The Abyss]

Camp One – Hesquait

PO Box 201

Hesquait [Gold River]

V0P 1G0

British Columbia,

Canada

7. gavin baker - september 6th, 2007 at 10:16 pm

Martin, thanks for your comments.