Transition from a subscription-based to an open acess publishing system

2. Funding for a transition from a
subscription-based to an open access
publishing
Mikael Laakso, D.Sc. (Econ.)
Associate Professor
Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland
17.10.2017
© Hanken Svenska handelshögskolan / Hanken School of Economics, www.hanken.fi

3. My background and perspective
» Research has been focusing on how OA has
been introduced and changed scholarly
journal publishing.
» Member of the newly-founded H2020
Commission Expert Group "Future of
Scholarly Publishing and Scholarly
Communication (FSP)”
» Chairman of FinnOA, an unofficial working
group for advancing open access to research
publications in Finland.
» Member of the strategy group for journal
publisher negotiations on behalf of the
Finnish university library consortium
(FinElib). http://hdl.handle.net/10138/45238

4. Before proceeding: my stance
on the transition to openness
Open ≠ Free
» Professional publishing is a service worth
paying for. However, the current profit margins
extracted from subscription-based publishing need to
be dramatically reduced.
» However, while not being free, open publishing
models will save money once well-established.
» Proliferation of open access in whatever form will
increase market competition and lessen bargaining
power of individual publishers.

5. Open Access is constantly evolving –
that evolution can and should be guided
Open
Access
Needs of
Scientific
Communication
Technology
Development
Economic
Aspects
Science Policy

6. A transition in 10 years time –
realistic & achievable
Coordination of Open Access to Research Publications in Sweden (2017)

7. The early hopes and dreams
for Open Access
» On many occasions open access has been presented as the
“solution” to finally stop the profit-maximizing pricing of
commercial publishers.
» The creation of APC-based OA journals is good for
increasing openness but has so far only created additional
costs for research-conducting subscribing institutions.
» Self-archiving has also not been able to provide a systemic
change to completely unlock access to research.

8. The uphill starting position of open
access
» Major publishers having no reason to hurry
» Market-controlling power over journal portfolios
» Economies of scale in digital publishing
» Academic merit systems
» Academics work hard to get published in prestigeful
journals & to gain positions on editorial boards
» Establishing new journals takes time
» Universities/libraries unable to act aggressively
» Subscriptions increasingly expensive, no money left
over to support alternative publishing models

9. The perspective of (independent)
individual journals for converting to
open access
Openness Feasibility
APCs
Open Access Delay
Author Rights
Use of Volunteer Effort
Independence
Scalability
Available Income Sources
Neuman & Laakso 2017

10. Ways through which journals have
converted to open access
Solomon, Laakso & Björk (2016)
https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/27803834

11. At what rate has OA publishing
been initiated by journals?
Work-in-progress, please do not cite
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Converted OA journals Born OA journals
Laakso & Björk

12. Article volumes
Born OA vs. Converted OA
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Born, APC
Born, no APC
Converted, APC
Converted, no APC
Work-in-progress, please do not cite

13. Journal APCs (in converted USD).
98 904 no APC articles not visualised
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
1-99
100-199
200-299
300-399
400-499
500-599
600-699
700-799
800-899
900-999
1000-1099
1100-1199
1200-1299
1300-1399
1400-1499
1500-1599
1600-1699
1700-1799
1800-1899
1900-1999
2000-2099
2100-2199
2200-2299
2300-2399
2400-2499
2500-2599
2600-2699
2700-2799
2800-2899
2900-2999
3000-3099
3100-3199
3200-3299
3300-3399
3400-3499
3500+
Articles in Born OA journals Articles in Converted OA journals
Work-in-progress, please do not cite

14. Making open access a reality
» It is not so much that we can get rid of subscriptions in the
short-term, but that the pricing-power of publishers can be
lessened by smart use of funds.
» The way to do so requires three key ingredients:
1. Collective action
2. Knowing your numbers and acting accordingly
3. Demanding OA publishing terms in
publisher agreements
» But not forgetting that anything made OA by any means is
one less piece of research that publishers can use as a
bargaining chip.

15. © Hanken
Collective Action

16. Porter's (1979) Five Forces
Framework
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter%27s_five_forces_analysis#/media/File:Elements_of_Industry_Structure.svg

17. Need for collective action –
nationally and internationally
» The Dilemma of Collective Action (Wenzler 2017)
» "For academic libraries to continue to achieve their traditional role of
storing, organizing, preserving, and providing access to the scholarly
record, they increasingly will have to take responsibility for the entire
cycle of scholarly communication from publishing and editing
through preservation, but it is unlikely that they will succeed in doing
so through the uncoordinated actions of individual institutions and
will require new experiments in cooperation and coordination.”
» The 2.5% Commitment (Lewis 2017)
» “…every academic library should commit to contribute 2.5% of its
total budget to support the common infrastructure needed to create
the open scholarly commons.”
» ”…if we don’t collectively invest in the infrastructure we need for the
open scholarly commons, it will not get built or it will only be
haphazardly half built. “

18. Consortia / Library Partnership
Subsidies

19. Collective action nationally
(example of Austria)
dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.34079

20. © Hanken
Knowing your numbers
(and acting accordingly)

21. Knowing is half the battle
» This is a fairly new area of expertise that blends bibliometrics,
accounting, and science policy.
» For supporting publisher negotiations
» How important is a specific publisher for your institution
» How expensive is the publisher relative to other publishers
» What is the relevance of the publishers hybrid OA options vs their
full open access journals
» For managing allocation of APC funds
» Proper sizing of an APC fund
» Proper price-capping of APC fund

22. On the topic of APC funds
» APC-funds have been found to have two
effects
» Replacement effect
» Stimulating effect
» Most APC-funds in continental Europe fund only
articles in OA journals and exclude hybrid OA.
» Many APC-funds are managed by the libraries of
research organisations but funded (partly or
entirely) by research funders via so-called block
grants.
» OA factors have an influence on journal selection
http://repository.jisc.ac.uk/6665/1/
Financial_and_administrative_issu
es_around_APCs_for_OA_June_
2017_KE.pdf

23. Costs transparency is good, but is
not an automatic enabler of change
https://openscience.fi/-
/transparency-and-openness-to-
scientific-publishing-the-finnish-
research-organisations-pay-
millions-of-euros-annually-to-the-
large-publishers
https://treemaps.intact-
project.org/apcdata/openapc/#institution/
country=SWE

24. Meticulous monitoring and analysis is
needed

25. © Hanken
Demanding OA publishing
terms in publisher agreements

26. OA 2020
» The principles of this initiative
were discussed and agreed upon
at the 12th Berlin Open Access
Conference on 8-9 December
2015.
» “There is currently already enough
money in the system. A large-scale
transformation from subscription to open
access publishing is possible without
added expense.”
http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0026-C274-7 ; http://oa2020.org

27. An OA transformation would be possible
by re-channeling existing funds
http://sparceurope.org/opinionpiecerschimmernov2016/

28. Use the public deal terms of others
to your advantage
http://www.openaccess.nl/en/in-the-netherlands/publisher-deals

29. But let us not forget that OA
benefits are colourblind
» What matters is that the research publication is discoverable
and retrievable without reader-side payment.
» The mechanism through which this happens is not a main
concern for gaining benefits.
» However, the earlier OA is provided the better.

30. Key takeaways
» The transition to open access calls for brave steps
forward, not moving sideways and thus prolonging
this unfavorable state of transition.
» Need for acceptance of rising total costs in the short-
term as long as future savings are certain.
» Co-ordination is needed to make change happen,
funders, universities and national consortia should
collaborate to push towards the common goal of
open access.
» Drive for systematic change, but also support low-
cost complimentary and substitute alternatives.

31. © Hanken
Thank you!

32. Key references
Laakso, M 2014, Measuring Open Access: Studies of Web-enabled Innovation in Scientific
Journal Publishing. Ekonomi och samhälle / Economics and Society, no. 268, Hanken School of
Economics, Helsinki.
Lewis, DW (2017), "The 2.5% Commitment," September 11, 2017.
http://hdl.handle.net/1805/14063
Neuman, Y & Laakso, M (2017). 'Balancing ideology and feasibility: A case study on adopting and
evaluating open access publishing models for a society journal within philosophy’. In press at
Information Research.
Schimmer, R., Geschuhn, K. K., & Vogler, A. (2015). Disrupting the subscription journals’
business model for the necessary large-scale transformation to open access. A Max Planck Digital
Library Open Access Policy White Paper. http://doi.org/10.17617/1.3
Solomon, D, Laakso, M, Björk, B-C & Suber, P (ed.) 2016, Converting Scholarly Journals to
Open Access: A Review of Approaches and Experiences. Harvard Library, Cambridge.
Wenzler, J. (2017). Scholarly Communication and the Dilemma of Collective Action: Why
Academic Journals Cost Too Much. College & Research Libraries, 78(2), 183–200.
http://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.2.183