Open access and academic associations in the political and social sciences: threat or opportunity?

Martin J Bull

doi:10.1057/eps.2015.88

Abstract

Academic associations are a vital part of the academic community, facilitating the interaction of researchers and production of knowledge, yet the impact of Open Access on their future has been too often regarded as marginal to the main discussion. Open Access presents an evident threat to those associations, which have become dependent upon a sizeable proportion of their income coming from owned journals published in conjunction with publishers. Yet, Open Access also presents opportunities, and academic associations should be bold in using a combination of their expertise, prestige and experience in publishing to ensure their futures in a newly emerging market.

Highlights

The online version of this article is available Open Access (201–210) & 2016 European Consortium for Political Research. 1680-4333/16 www.palgrave-journals.com/eps the academic machine, especially by enhancing the quality of interaction between academics in different national and international settings
It could be argued that Open Access (OA) has not consistently been given the attention it deserves by academic associations themselves, at least in the social sciences and humanities, which – in contrast with some areas of the sciences – have arrived ‘late’ to the OA party
These associations need to assess the extent to 202 european political science: 15 2016 open access and academic associations which OA might present opportunities to be exploited

Summary

Introduction

The online version of this article is available Open Access (201–210) & 2016 European Consortium for Political Research. 1680-4333/16 www.palgrave-journals.com/eps the academic machine, especially by enhancing the quality of interaction between academics in different national and international settings. The business model of most academic associations is based on generating income through three routes: membership fees, conference fees and publishing activities.

Results

Conclusion