The economics of open access publishing in the sciences - recent reports for health librarians

Lindsay K. Harris, Government of South Australia, SA Health

Abstract

Australian health librarians would be familiar with the general background to the origins of open access publishing. These encompass the escalating costs of periodical prices that are far in excess of national inflation rates, the unending pressure on library budgets, the consequent incapacity of libraries to keep pace with mounting subscription costs and the emergence during the past decade of huge STM (scientific, technology and medical) publishers which have reduced competitive forces in the market place. That STM publishing is big business is unquestionable. In 2002 the merchant bankers Morgan Stanley estimated the global STM publishing market to be a seven billion US dollar industry with scientific journals the fastest growing sub-sector during the previous15 years. ( Liesegang 2005 p162 )