Scholarly Publishing: Why service is poor, prices are high, and what can be done by Aaron

I come to this problem wearing three hats Economics Professor studying the matter for a Mellon Foundation project. Antitrust Professor Small Publisher: Berkeley Electronic Press

Economist Painfully slow (Hurwicz, Ellison) Prices high and increasing How possible? –Hint: its not costs –“Greatest profit of the monopoly is the quiet life”--Hicks –Market power or even monopoly power.

Entry Barriers limit competition First copy costs –Processing Manuscripts: editing, reviewing,etc. –Copy editing –Typesetting Coordination problems (Ultimate Catch 22) –Journal is a coordination equilibrium –Leap of faith by Authors Editors/Reviewers Libraries Indexes Readers

Computer Technology First copy costs –processing costs fall with editorial management software like bepress’ Edikit –however, effect on incremental costs more dramatic Coordination problems –problems remain –rise of bundling (“Big Deal”) aggravates coordination problems.

What can be done? Work to lower entry barriers and thereby increase competition. Economists and other Scholars –Take risks as Authors and Editors –Pretend that private rewards equal social rewards Libraries and Universities –Support entrants by subscribing –Insist that cancellations yield proportionate savings

What can be done? Libraries and Universities continued –Provide or license technology for new low-cost publication outlets. For journals. (encourage faculty to start) Subsidize competitors to reap rewards later For monographs, working papers, other publication outlets. Institutional Repositories Subject Matter Repositories –Tenure standards: emphasize quality of work Develop quality indexes not connected to journal

What can be done? Antitrust Authorities –Block Mergers –Block Big Deal bundling as an entry barrier Approaches –Tying sale. –price discrimination.

What the Berkeley Electronic Press (aka “bepress”) has done Founded by UC Berkeley Professors Staff –9 employees Goal –Make scholarly publishing efficient (good service, low cost)

Bepress (continued) Software Developed –Eliminates “one-offs” in web-site and journal creation –Automates repetitive and tedious tasks of running journal Filing submissions, revisions, reviews, decision letters Writing reviewer request s and addressing them Reminding reviewers, etc. –easy uploading of documents/stamping identifying and unifying information on PDF’s automatically –organized/easy searching –personalized notification –varied uses –licensed much cheaper than others

What the Berkeley Electronic Press (aka “bepress”) has done Journals (6 in economics and business) –service 5-10 week turnaround Submission to several journals at once –price $100-$500 per year per university per journal. Discounts for multi-year subscriptions. –Much lower than Elsevier –Somewhat more than Associations (though our site license allows all to use so cheaper in total in many cases) –Stable pricing.

Journal List –The B.E. Journals of Economic Analysis & Policy –The B.E. Journals of Macroeconomics –The B.E. Journals of Theoretical Economics –Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics –Journal of Agriculture and Food Industrial Organization –The Review of Marketing Science –Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology –International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering –The Forum –Global Jurist –Journals of Legal Scholarship

What bepress has done Friendly Policies –Quasi-open access (a compromise) Compromise depends on good faith of librarians –Free subsciptions in developing countries –Editor profit sharing –Author retains copyright –Commitment to stable pricing

What bepress has done Open Access Institutional repositories –E.g., California Digital Library eScholarship repository Working papers Monographs –Compare: D-Space Organization. See to compare Cost 250K-300K per year at MIT. Time to implement: ?

Bepress continued Subject matter repositories (partly open access) –Coming this winter

Conclusion: Basic Problem Entry barriers –costs per unit will be high at outset for startups Competition will bring change –must work to lower entry barriers –invest to pay startup costs, subsidize alternatives

What can actors do to aid dissemination and lower costs Economists –Take risks as Authors and Editors –Pretend that private rewards equal social rewards Libraries –Help new publications get started. Start low cost publication outlets E.g., CDL eScholarship Repository Universities –Start Repositories –Subsidize publications Gov’t grant making organizations Antitrust Authorities