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Universities Spend Millions on Accessing Results of Publicly Funded Research (theconversation.com)

Posted by msmash on from the stranger-things dept.

Mark C. Wilson, a senior lecturer at Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland, writing for The Conversation: University research is generally funded from the public purse. The results, however, are published in peer-reviewed academic journals, many of which charge subscription fees. I had to use freedom of information laws to determine how much universities in New Zealand spend on journal subscriptions to give researchers and students access to the latest research -- and I found they paid almost US$15 million last year to just four publishers. There are additional costs, too. Paywalls on research hold up scientific progress and limit the publicâ(TM)s access to the latest information.

9 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Sci Hub! by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 4, Informative

    That's why I use Sci-Hub when I need to find an old paper I wrote.

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    1. Re:Sci Hub! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That's why I use Sci-Hub when I need to find an old paper I wrote.

      When I need to find an old paper I wrote, I look in my filing cabinet. But I'm old school that way.

    2. Re:Sci Hub! by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 2

      That's why I use Sci-Hub when I need to find an old paper I wrote.

      When I need to find an old paper I wrote, I look in my filing cabinet. But I'm old school that way.

      Hmm, I keep electronic copies on my computer. Each to their own.

      But the version on my computer is 15 different versions. The one that actually made it into the journal is one of them. That's the one I want to provide to whoever asked me for a copy of the paper. Sci-Hub only finds the journal version.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    3. Re:Sci Hub! by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 2

      Humble brag lol

      Is writing a paper brag worthy? It's part of my job.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  2. Re:How much of that was New Zealand tax money? by slashrio · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because then American universities can be entitled to look for free in the results of Brazilian, Chinese, Russian, French, English, German... well, you got the point?

    --
    "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
  3. Publishers don't pay for much by tolleyl · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One more reason why this is so irritating, is that the publishers hardly have to pay anyone. The scientists writing the papers do so for free, and often have to do the final print formatting themselves. The paper is then sent to the peer reviewers, who perform the reviews for free. In the end, the publisher doesn't pay for content, layout or review, so the journals don't have good reasons to be expensive. Things will gradually change, but it's taking a long time simply because scientists want their name in a big name journal.

    1. Re:Publishers don't pay for much by Obfuscant · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The scientists writing the papers do so for free,

      No, they don't. They aren't paid by the publisher, but that doesn't mean "free".

      and often have to do the final print formatting themselves.

      Not for the reputable journals.

      The paper is then sent to the peer reviewers, who perform the reviews for free.

      But the review system is managed by the publisher, not the author. There is a cost to that management.

      In the end, the publisher doesn't pay for content, layout or review,

      Umm, layout and review are publisher costs.

      so the journals don't have good reasons to be expensive.

      Printing on archival quality paper is a costly process.

      This isn't saying the current system is right, it just isn't as cost free to the publisher as you claim.

  4. Re:Not paid for by NZ public though by pr0fessor · · Score: 2

    There is also no reason a third party should be making money off of giving another country access to tax payer funded research either.

  5. True but irrelevant by lfp98 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The simple fact is that the essential quality control involved in scientific publication - vetting the scientific content and standardizing the presentation - is expensive to perform, and somebody has to pay for it. Traditionally, that work has been done by publishers who charge subscription fees for the service, and are periodically accused of price-gouging. Open-access journals which have attempted to bypass the commercial publishers have invariably discovered much to their dismay just how expensive it is. When they started, they predicted that vetting, copy-editing and maintaining an article online could easily be done for under $1000. But they now charge authors several thousand dollars to publish an article, money generally taken out of grant funds which otherwise would be used to support the actual research being reported. And still these open-access journals claim to be losing money. Is this a better system? I'm not so sure.