Abstract
Abstract This paper makes the strong, fact-based case for a large-scale transformation of the current corpus of scientific subscription journals to an open access business model. The existing journals, with their well-tested functionalities, should be retained and developed to meet the demands of 21st-century research, while the underlying payment streams undergo a major restructuring. There is sufficient momentum for this decisive push toward open access publishing. The diverse existing initiatives must be coordinated so as to converge on this clear goal. The international nature of research implies that this transformation will be achieved on a truly global scale only through a consensus of the world’s most eminent research organizations. All the indications are that the money already invested in the research publishing system is sufficient to enable a transformation that will be sustainable for the future. There needs to be a shared understanding that the money currently locked in the journal subscription system must be withdrawn and re-purposed for open access publishing services. The current library acquisition budgets are the ultimate reservoir for enabling the transformation without financial or other risks. The goal is to preserve the established service levels provided by publishers that are still requested by researchers, while redefining and reorganizing the necessary payment streams. By disrupting the underlying business model, the viability of journal publishing can be preserved and put on a solid footing for the scholarly developments of the future.
Highlights
The uptake of open access in recent years has been remarkable
There needs to be a shared understanding that the money currently locked in the journal subscription system must be withdrawn and re-purposed for open access publishing services
It is a truism among publishers that new journals nowadays can be brought to market only if they are open access; a new journal has no real future if it is placed on the subscription track
Summary
The uptake of open access in recent years has been remarkable. Articles in open access are the most dynamic growth area in scientific publishing and have reached a market share of 13% (without even counting the hybrid component, which has been growing rapidly as a result of British encouragement following the Finch report). The final breakthrough to a comprehensive open access publishing system cannot be achieved unless library acquisition budgets are repurposed so as to consolidate the system’s two current streams into a single undertaking: to provide the best possible publishing services for the patron researchers. This calls for the removal of the scarcities and restrictions that have been artificially imposed by the toll-access system. The current subscription system still prevails and is even in good shape, which indicates the challenge of overcoming the inertia in an established system
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