What do recent studies tell funders and institutions about the costs and benefits for them? John Houghton Centre for Strategic Economic Studies Victoria University, Australia

Economics of publishing  There have been many studies of the economics of scholarly publishing, with a focus on subscription and journal publishing costs.  One major theme has been the potential for cost savings through electronic publishing.  A few studies take a systems perspective and look at system-wide costs (e.g. Tenopir and King).  To date, the JISC and subsequent studies are the only ones to look at benefits as well as costs. Centre for Strategic Economic Studies

RIN and JISC Reports  RIN Report – Activities, Costs & Funding Flows.  Focused on Publication–Distribution–Access and did not look at production and consumption, or at possible benefits.  Took subscription publishing as the base and looked at the implications of change for the funding flows that support publishing/publishers.  Scenarios included electronic-only and author-pays publishing, paying for peer review, and increased research funding.  JISC Report – Implications of Alternative Models.  Looked at system-wide cost impacts and potential benefits.  Included toll access, author-pays, ‘Green OA’ self-archiving, and the ‘deconstructed’ or ‘overlay journals’ model. Centre for Strategic Economic Studies

Implications  It is clear that alternative publishing models can make a significant difference to both the costs faced and benefits realized.  For funders, the potential increase in research impact that might come from greater access is important.  For institutions, looking at whole-of-system costs casts doubt on simplistic comparisons of potential author- pays fees and current subscription spending. Centre for Strategic Economic Studies

Implications  The implications for institutions will depend on what they do now and what they might do in different circumstances.  Universities vary – different mixes of research and teaching, mixes of disciplines, university presses, institutional and subject repositories, etc.  There is no simple answer – we created an on-line model so people can explore the implications for themselves. Centre for Strategic Economic Studies