Timeline for answer to Should I review for a journal charging authors? by Buffy
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22 events
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| Mar 20, 2024 at 6:28 | comment | added | bourneeoo | More reputable source: theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/… Elsevier has 40% profit margins. Unfortunately open access is not discussed but it is hard to believe that these companies would be willing to significantly decrease such margins | |
| Mar 20, 2024 at 3:41 | comment | added | Allure | @HalilSen that's a Youtube video by someone with no experience in publishing. If you believe that, here's another Youtube video by someone who thinks the Moon landings are faked. youtube.com/watch?v=6zm7LfuDCu8 | |
| Mar 19, 2024 at 17:42 | comment | added | Halil Sen | @Buffy here is A source explaining the profit margins of academic publishing industry and the business setup m.youtube.com/watch?v=PriwCi6SzLo this is just one spuece | |
| Mar 19, 2024 at 15:24 | comment | added | Allure | @Buffy Arno's estimate of up to 300 pounds per article is believable, see academia.stackexchange.com/questions/52007/…. But it means you don't do a lot of things that publishers arguably should do like conduct plagiarism checks, and there is no way every published article pays the APC, hence you realistically need to charge more than 300 pounds per article unless you grant no waivers (in turn excluding authors from developing countries). | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 21:55 | comment | added | Stephan Kolassa | Certainly there are completely free completely open access journals. Those are typically run as a labor of love by a small cadre of extremely dedicated people with major support from their universities (e.g., for IT support). What happens when the core people retire, or move to a different university who will not support this journal? | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 21:29 | comment | added | Buffy | Were you asking a question here or fishing for the answer you wanted? You don't need to review. Not a problem. But you aren't acting as a professional if you withhold services that are essential to publishing. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 21:19 | comment | added | Walter | Some of your arguments are misguided: I am not opposing reviewing at all. What I don't like is being exploited by publishers who make large profits by charging authors for a service they get for free. And my main point is that the review is the most important service the journal provides. W/o that the journals would be dead. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 21:13 | comment | added | Walter | @Buffy The service is to the author more than to the journal That's not so clear. A good journal cannot do w/o review, so the review is essential for the journal. It is in fact in this time and age the only reason for a journal to exists, since the review provides the quality control that a paper published just on the arXiv lacks. There is no other reason any more to publish in a journal: distribution of an article does not require a journal. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 21:07 | comment | added | Walter | This answer is just wrong. The actual cost of paper processing is far less than 2500 $/€/£. In my field there is actually now also a completely free completely open-access journal. This clearly demonstrates that APC are near 100% profit. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:59 | comment | added | Dr. Banjadebaje | @Buffy, I have seen some new journals taking this approach. But this is rare. So, my approach is mostly to stick to my last sentence for review job. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:57 | comment | added | Buffy | @Dr.Banjadebaje, do you get paid to review? I never have been. The service is to the author more than to the journal. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:52 | comment | added | Dr. Banjadebaje | I don't want to review for journals that use unpaid reviewers. All journals are making money either publishing open-source or behind the paywall. So, giving free service for journals to make money is not worthy. Yes, if all reviewers thinks same way, there will be few paper published. However, if all reviewers are paid for the job they do, everyone will benefit--reviewers are willing to provide better service and become happier for the job they are doing. If unpaid, I only review papers if I am extremely interested, want to add new journals in my resume, or received request from known editor. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:51 | comment | added | Buffy | @Arno, do the math. It doesn't work out. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:50 | comment | added | Arno | @Buffy That includes infrastructure and salary for staff (but not editors). However, some responsibilities are outsourced to the arXiv. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:38 | comment | added | Buffy | @Arno, I'll guess that only is the immediate cost, not the infrastructure cost and the cost of that perpetual (more or less) guarantee. Hopefully even clerical staff get a living wage. Not to mention the IT folks that keep the system running. If they publish 500 articles per year, I guarantee that they don't run the enterprise on £150,000 per year. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:37 | history | edited | Buffy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:37 | comment | added | Arno | @Buffy I've talked with people running diamond open access journals. Their estimate was that the actual cost per article is in the £100-300 range. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:20 | comment | added | Buffy | @TimRias, that is a common view. Do you have information/data to back it up? Publishers also spend effort on things that don't get published. People review articles not to support a business model, but to support academic progress. And, journal subscriptions are also high, but paying gives you only access to a limited set of articles. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:16 | comment | added | TimRias | The charged APC is not cost of publishing. It is the cost of publishing plus an exorbitant profit margin. Academic publishing remains one of the most insanely profitable businesses. | |
| Mar 18, 2024 at 20:05 | history | edited | Buffy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 18, 2024 at 19:55 | history | edited | Buffy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Mar 18, 2024 at 19:48 | history | answered | Buffy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |