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(Apologies for cross-posting)
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This is to raise a question about how editors of Open Access journals that demand an article processing charge (APC) should deal with discounts for non-institutional authors or those from poorer countries.
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The offering of substantial APC waivers to authors from specific countries or to researchers with financial constraints in specific cases is familiar. My question relates to the way in which such discounts are offered.
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Usually, a researcher needs to assert or demonstrate his/her inability to pay the APC before getting relief. The problem is that obliging researcher to request a lower or zero APC feels a bit like inviting them to beg – and the result often seems to depend on the benevolence and good humour of the editor, responding on an individual, case-by-case basis, rather than by applying some pre-established rule.
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This is surely not good enough. It can’t be correct and ethical scientific practice to require unsupported authors to face the embarrassment of having to turn out their pockets and demonstrate the holes in their socks before they get a discount.
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Any views on this? Should there be a norm among OA journals that each should adopt a standardized system to determine APC charges (ranging from 0 to the full APC, depending on an explicit list of circumstances), avoiding the need for any negotiation?
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Best,
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Chris
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<p>Chris Zielinski<br>chris@chriszielinski.com<br>Blogs: <a href="http://ziggytheblue.wordpress.com">http://ziggytheblue.wordpress.com</a> and <a href="http://ziggytheblue.tumblr.com">http://ziggytheblue.tumblr.com</a> <br>Research publications: <a href="http://www.researchgate.net">http://www.researchgate.net</a><br></p>
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