The Changing Economic Model of Scholarly Publishing: Uncertainty, Complexity, and Multimedia Serials

Abstract

Scholarly publishing is undergoing a transformation that affects every participant in the information chain. Serials used to be a relatively uncomplicated activity, driven by the need of scholars and researchers to publish. Since the early 1980s, both journal price inflation and the growth in the number of journals and the numbers of papers published have outstripped the ability of even the most lavishly funded library to purchase what faculty and students demand. At the same time, modern technology has offered us the opportunity to develop new ways of distributing scholarly literature that offer the researcher facilities and qualities that cannot be undertaken in the print medium