On Sat, 3 Jul 2004, [identity deleted] wrote: > I would be interested in your reaction to Springer's Open Choice news > (http://www.springer-sbm.de/en/press/pressreleases.php?n=a&pid=1091). I > assume you have greater interest in the company's self-archiving policy > (which I am currently not aware of) but any thoughts?
You are quite right that there is far greater interest in Springer/Kluwer's self-archiving policy than in their open-choice policy, but one should certainly welcome the open-choice policy from any publisher -- as long as that publisher is also green on self-archiving: Springer is currently green on self-archiving (postprints) http://romeo.eprints.org/publishers/74.html and Kluwer is currently pale-green (preprints). http://romeo.eprints.org/publishers/46.html If their merger is now green on both, that's a step forward. (Note that the http://romeo.eprints.org journal lists -- in construction -- still need cleaning up to remove some duplicates and non-journals.) The new fact that -- in addition to giving the green light to Springer/Kluwer authors to provide OA to their own articles by self-archiving them -- they also offer their authors the option of paying Springer/Kluwer to provide OA on their behalf (i.e., to become an OA journal on an individual article basis) is also a step forward. It is important to note, however, that Thomas Walker's original proposal in 1998 of what Springer/Kluwer now call the "open choice" option was always coupled with the intention that the publisher should also be green on self-archiving. An open-choice policy from a gray publisher would not be a step forward at all, but a cynical bet on authors' continuing naivete about OA: http://romeo.eprints.org/publishers.html See: "For Whom the Gate Tolls?" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0000.html "Should Publishers Offer Free-Access Services?" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0017.html "Is ESA First?" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0595.html "Are "Open Access Reprints" a Unique Service?" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/2651.html "How many journals sell authors Open Access by the article?" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/3620.html Springer/Kluwer's current charge for paid OA provision ($3000) may be a somewhat arbitrary one (PLoS is $1500 and BMC is $500), but that does not matter at all, *as long as Springer/Kluwer is green on self-archiving*. Authors can decide for themselves whether to self-archive or to pay to have it done for them, and if ever there is a wholesale conversion toward OA publishing, the market will decide how much the service is worth. (My own guess is that there will be cost-cutting and downsizing to the essentials before that happens): http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmsctech/399/399we152.htm See: "Alternative publishing models - was: Scholar's Forum: A New Model..." http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0216.html "Journals are Quality Certification Brand-Names" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0270.html "Central vs. Distributed Archives" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0215.html "The True Cost of the Essentials (Implementing Peer Review)" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0308.html "Workshop on Open Archives Initiative in Europe" http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/0943.html Stevan Harnad NOTE: A complete archive of the ongoing discussion of providing open access to the peer-reviewed research literature online (1998-2004) is available at the American Scientist Open Access Forum: To join the Forum: http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/American-Scientist-Open-Access-Forum.html Post discussion to: [email protected] Hypermail Archive: http://www.cogsci.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Hypermail/Amsci/index.html Unified Dual Open-Access-Provision Policy: BOAI-2 ("gold"): Publish your article in a suitable open-access journal whenever one exists. http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/boaifaq.htm#journals BOAI-1 ("green"): Otherwise, publish your article in a suitable toll-access journal and also self-archive it. http://www.eprints.org/self-faq/ http://www.soros.org/openaccess/read.shtml http://www.eprints.org/signup/sign.php
