Today, a group of leading publishers is announcing a major new service to plug leakage, improve discovery and access, fight piracy, compete with ResearchGate, and position their platform for the OA ecosystem. This new service shows that publishers are finally beginning to address digital strategy in an environment that has steadily eroded their ability to monetize the value they create. Does it go far enough to reset the competitive environment?
The conversation around open access has shifted from “should we?” to “how are we going to?” The failings of the author-pays model are becoming increasingly evident. Finding better models is proving to be both urgently necessary and extremely difficult.
Curtis Kendrick, Dean of Libraries at Binghamton University, raises questions about whether cost-per-use is the appropriate metric for measuring the comparative value of library subscriptions.
Plan S has injected a much-needed sense of urgency to the debate about transformation to full and immediate open access, but what are we missing in our focus on the minutiae of compliance? How do we ensure that implementation ensures a more equitable system for all?
Analyzing subscription expenditures at the institutional level suggests that for US institutions, subscriptions represent a very slight burden on university budgets, while delivering value to many stakeholders.
Gwen Evans, Executive Director of the OhioLink consortium suggests that there is no standard Read and Publish or Publish and Read deal that will fit all consortia, and significant negotiation and customization is needed for each arrangement.
cOAlition S rebuffed recommendations for continuing hybrid and supporting sister journals. Springer Nature tries again with concept of the “Transformative Publisher.” Thoughts?