Information Research Weblog

Interesting, John. Of course, we can expect the publishers to respond in this way because of their fear of losing market share. However, they've become fat on the proceeds of scientific publication as a result of being just about the only industry that gets its raw material free of charge. I don't understand why the universities don't go further and collaboratively publish free, peer-reviewed e-journals. In many small fields, like information science, for example, it need not be very expensive - as Information Research has shown - and I don't find anyone arguing that the journal's standards are lower than those of the print journals.

As for, "Is 'access' winning the battle over 'acquisition'?", I think the answer is probably 'Yes' and the trend is gaining strength as authors in particular learn that they have nothing to lose by demanding open access for their work. I expect the trend to continue and strengthen.

What do the 'lurkers' out there believe? :-)