1
Ensuring a Journal’s
Economic
Sustainability,
While Increasing
Access to Knowledge
These slides are intended to be presented to editors and potential
editors of journals, as well as interested faculty members and librarians.
2
The Economic Sustainability of Journals
Page Charges
Advertising
Sponsorship
Volunteers
Most journals employ some
combination of these
economic models
to ensure their sustainability.
Subscriptions
TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC MODELS
Each model is explained in next slide. These are not official titles for the
models but just one way of distinguishing among them.
3
The Economic Sustainability of Journals
Exchange of journal ads with other journals;
industry ads, classifieds.
Advertising
Paid by author or institution for review or
accepted article.
Page Charges
Institutional or agency in-kind contribution
equipment, space, time; grants; donations.
Sponsorship
Editors, authors, reviewers; and (less likely)
copyeditors, layout editors, proofreaders
Volunteers
Individual, student (reduced); society
member, institutional subscriptions.
Subscriptions
TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC MODELS
4
The Economic Sustainability of Journals
Open
Access
Online
Publication
Journals can now be
managed and published online with
open source (free) software that
offers economic and quality
advantages for scholarly
communication.
Online
Management
ECONOMICS OF ONLINE SYSTEMS
The suggestion here, and in these slides overall, is that editors can
progress in steps, taking on one at a time, beginning with online
management, and then moving down to open access. But of course,
one can jump and one can select among them.
OJS is an example of open source free software; other examples
include HyperJournal, DPubS, Topaz.
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The Economic Sustainability of Journals
Quality Advantage
Economic Advantage
1. Provides and manages website for editorial and publishing
processes, while reducing need for editorial office.
2. Reduces clerical costs of handling submissions,
subscriptions, correspondence, filing, photocopying, etc.
3. Authors do not ne