[Coral-List] Some more on Springers Open Access Policy
Richard Dunne
RichardPDunne at aol.com
Thu Apr 24 03:20:34 EDT 2008
Juan and Coral Listers
I am not sure what you mean by your phrase "Springers open access policy
is actually a Non Open Access Policy" but ignoring that and moving to
your proposal for another publication focussing on coral reef work.
There are of course already many other publications in which coral reef
related work regularly appears. To list but a few: Atoll Research
Bulletin, Bulletin of Marine Science, Marine and Freshwater Research,
Limnology and Oceanography, Pacific Science, Galaxea, Marine Pollution
Bulletin, Marine Ecology Progress Series, Marine Biology, Estuarine and
Coastal Shelf Science, many marine geology journals, many of the new
Open Access journals etc, etc. The list is practically limitless
depending on the subject area. In these circumstances I doubt that any
publisher or philanthropic organisation would consider yet another
publication on coral reefs to be viable.
Coral Reefs was born in 1982 as a brainchild of the newly formed
International Society for Reef Studies to act as a focal point for
publishing on all aspects of coral reef work. It would have been
impossible for a small society like ISRS to find the huge costs involved
in publishing, hence a publishing agreement was drawn up with Springer
Verlag. It was originally envisaged that ISRS would benefit from some of
the profit from this joint publishing venture, but alas there was none
for at least the first 10 years, after which the agreement was changed
at the instigation of ISRS. Indeed it is very likely that Springer
carried a considerable loss for many years. Whether, and how much of a
profit it makes now we cannot know, but it is unlikely to be very much,
and this is one of the strengths of a large publishing house like
Springer where profits from one area (e.g. the medical sciences) can be
offset against losses in another. In any case, members of ISRS are
allowed to receive both electronic access to the journal and the printed
copy at an extremely reasonable charge. So in this sense there is open
access to members.
Springer are not quite the ogre that some would wish to believe. Almost
uniquely they allow colour printing in this journal for no cost, and
this is an important consideration for one of the manuscript types that
are included; namely Reef Sites. They donated an entire print run of
Coral Reefs and their other books to the Heron Island Research Station
after the fire which destroyed the library. They sponsor a 1,000 euro
prize for the best paper of the year - the latest prize being awarded to
a young PhD researcher. They run a Developing Countries Initiative to
provide research information for free or at very low cost to these
countries.
It is not my function to defend any particular publisher but you must
also consider the positive aspects. Coral reef publishing has benefited
greatly over the last 25 years from having a journal such as Coral
Reefs, which would not have existed without the backing of Springer.
Whether there is now room for a "reduced marginal cost" publication to
enter this field is doubtful, particularly since it would be likely to
run at a loss for many years during the start up phase.
Richard P Dunne
Juan Federico Urich wrote:
> Hi there Dear listers: Out of a little boldness and some encouragment I want
> to say that, Springers open access policy is actually a Non Open Access
> Policy. Consequently, I wonder if its not time or is it not proper to have a
> similar joint effort, just the same as the one that has sustained well,
> alive, and productive the coral list (not just due to NOAA´s continued and
> great support), but also from all of you out there, in order to publish an
> open access journal on Coral Reefs with the same or higher standards as
> Springer´s current Coral Reef publication. I accept Springers Policy based
> upon what it is for them a sound business decision, nevertheless I have an
> intuition that probably the time is right for at least one new player to
> enter the Coral Reef Knowledge market most surely at reduced marginal costs
> and profiting not just the journal but also the readers and above all the
> authors... It is simply, sound and fair Capitalism.
>
> Regards to all
>
> Juan
>
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