[GOAL] Re: Who benefits from for-profit open access publishing? A case study of Hindawi and Egypt

[Bo-Christer Björk]

Hi all,

The 1500 USD charged by Hindawi for the journal in question is by global 
standards fairly reasonable, given the impact factor level of the 
journal. The problem is that uniform APCs for all countries is probably 
unsustainable in the long run. For this reason many gold OA journals 
give Waivers for authors from developing countries. In this particular 
case authors from around 60 countries, mainly from Africa and Asia and 
curiously also Ukraine can get waivers. Egypt alas is not on the 
relevant World Bank list.

The leading publishers do not charge the same amounts for big deal 
subscription licenses in different countries, but take into account the 
potential customers ability to pay (its a bit like airline ticketing). 
Likewise I would hope that if we convert to a dominating APC funded gold 
OA solution, then OA publishers will develop more tieried APC schemes 
than the current binominal full APC- waiver one. There are already some 
examples of policies with at least three levels.

Bo-Christer Björk


On 4/11/15 5:58 PM, Heather Morrison wrote:
> David, Jan & Peter: thank you for your comments. I agree with some of what you say, would like to point to where we said basically the same things in the original post. and have some comments to add:
>
> Agreed - Hindawi has a deserved reputation as a leader in scholarly publishing, and in particular for commitment to quality. I also acknowledge that Egyptian researchers can benefit by reading the OA works of others. Following are words to this effect from the original blogpost:
>
> Details, first paragraph: "Hindawi is an open access commercial publishing success story and an Egyptian business success story. Hindawi Publishing Corporation was founded by Ahmed Hindawi who, in an interview with Richard Poynder conducted in September 2012, confirmed a revenue of millions of dollars from APCs alone – a $3.3 net profit on $12 million in revenue, a 28% profit rate (Poynder, 2012). Hindawi is highly respected in open access publishing circles, and was an early leader in establishing the Open Access Scholarly Publishers’ Association (OASPA), an organization that takes quality in publishing seriously". Towards the end: "Egyptian researchers can read open access works of others".
> http://sustainingknowledgecommons.org/2015/04/10/who-is-served-by-for-profit-gold-open-access-publishing-a-case-study-of-hindawi-and-egypt/
>
> David Prosser said: "I know of no country where APCs are mainly paid from academic salaries.  In the same way that centrifuges, reagents, etc., etc. tend not to be paid for from salaries.  They are mainly paid from research grants and so the comparison to salaries strikes me as meaningless".
>
> Comment: one way to think of this is that there are larger pools of funds from which both academic salaries and monies for other expenses (including APCs, subscription payments, reagents) are drawn. I argue that providing funds for research per se is a necessary precondition to dissemination of research results. I further argue that research funders working in the developing world will be more effective if they prioritize funding for academic salaries, student support,  and other direct supports for actually doing the research, rather than paying APCs. A subsidy of two APCs for Hindawi's Disease Markers - or a single APC of $3,000 charged by some other publishers - would pay a year's salary for a lecturer position in Egypt.
>
> Of course I am Canadian, have never been to Egypt, and do not speak Arabic. I am merely commenting on the impact of a model that I am viewing from a distance. To understand what is best for Egypt and her researchers requires in-depth knowledge of the country, consultation with and ideally leadership by Egyptian researchers themselves.
>
> best,
>
> Heather Morrison
>
>
>
>
>
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