[Pharm-policy] Re: [Ip-health] tiered pricing for Access to biomedical journals

[Prof. Udo Schuklenk]

Alan,

I agree with the sentiments of your point, but I do see quite a few
advantages. Quite a few libraries here should be able to reduce subscription
costs,and get more journals to subscribe to by virtue of this initiative.
Quite rightly they'll wonder years down the track about possible cost
increases, while for now at least they will effectively be able to increase
the number of journals accessible to their researchers, teachers, and
students. That is a good thing.

The BMJ comes actually free of charge, and there's lots of folks in
developing countries (and presumably elsewhere) who hope it'll stay that
way. I wonder whether this new initiative is actually changing that.

When I read an Editorial recently in the Journal of medical ethics (BMJ Publ
Group) announcing that online access to it would be available free of charge
to developing country based libraries I got really excited... only to
discover that their definition of developing country excludes for instance
South Africa, but includes India. The trouble here is, that some libraries
could afford to pay something, but many simply won't subscribe, because it's
too expensive at the full rate.

I do hope that the WHO initiative won't hover along similarly ridiculous and
obviously arbitrary lines of distinction between who is and who isn't
developing country.

Being a journal (co-)editor myself, who has to rely on commercial
infrastructure to produce journals (Blackwell this time), I sympathise both
with your views but also with their commercial motive. I would not be able
realistically to produce the journal as reliably and professionally without
em (and the various ongoing on-line non-profit 'alternatives' at this stage
only reinforce my views on this ... I would not submit a piece there). What
we did, for better or worse, as Editors was to negotiate drastically reduced
prices. The individual subscription rate for residents of developing
countries (and South Africa is considered a developing country here) just
about cover the production and postage expenses. Each year we haggle about
this issue, but my experience with Blackwell so far as been that they heeded
our advice and kept the price at the same level (considering inflation you'd
argue that they actually reduced the price by keeping it the same).

No ideal solution, I know, but we can live with it.

Udo