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A third of the journals published by Frontiers in 2019 and 2020 (20 / 61 journals) have increased in price by 18% or more (up to 55%). This is quite a contrast with the .4% Swiss inflation rate for 2019 according to<span> </span><a href="https://www.worlddata.info/europe/switzerland/inflation-rates.php" style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; color: rgb(177, 41, 48)">Worlddata.info</a><span> </span>;
18% is 45 times the inflation rate. This is an even more marked contrast with the current and anticipated economic impact of COVID; according to<span> </span><a href="https://lenews.ch/2020/04/29/swiss-gdp-set-for-worst-fall-in-decades/" style="margin: 0px; outline: 0px; color: rgb(177, 41, 48)">Le
News</a>, “A team of economic experts working for the Swiss government forecasts a 6.7% fall in GDP”. (Frontiers’ headquarters is in Switzerland).</p>
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This is similar to our 2019 finding that 40% of Frontier’s journals had increased in price by 18% or more (Pashaei & Morrison, 2019) and our 2018 finding that 40% of Frontier journals had increased in price by 18% – 31% (Morrison, 2018).</p>
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The price increases are on top of already high prices. For example,<span> </span><em style="font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px">Frontiers in Earth Science</em><span> </span>increased from 1,900 USD to 2,950 USD, a 55% price increase.<span> </span><em style="font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px">Frontiers
in Oncology</em><span> </span>increased from 2,490 to 2,950 USD, an 18% price increase.</p>
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This illustrates an<span> </span><strong style="font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px">inelastic market</strong>. Payers of these fees are largely government research funders, either directly or indirectly through university libraries or researchers’
own funds. The payers are experiencing a major downturn and significant challenges such as lab closures, working from home in lockdown conditions, and additional costs to accommodate public health measures, while Frontiers clearly expects ever-increasing revenue
and profit.</p>
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Details and a link to the dataset can be found here:</p>
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<div style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><a href="https://sustainingknowledgecommons.org/2020/06/03/frontiers-2020-a-third-of-journals-increase-prices-by-45-times-the-inflation-rate/" id="LPNoLP337269">https://sustainingknowledgecommons.org/2020/06/03/frontiers-2020-a-third-of-journals-increase-prices-by-45-times-the-inflation-rate/</a></div>
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<div style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Dr. <span style="font-size:12pt">Heather Morrison</span></div>
<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Associate Professor, School of Information Studies, University of Ottawa</p>
<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Cross-appointed, Department of Communication</p>
<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Professeur Agrégé, École des Sciences de l'Information, Université d'Ottawa<br>
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<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:16px">
Principal Investigator, Sustaining the Knowledge Commons, a SSHRC Insight Project</p>
<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px; font-family:Calibri,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:16px">
sustainingknowledgecommons.org</p>
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<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Heather.Morrison@uottawa.ca<br>
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<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><a href="https://uniweb.uottawa.ca/?lang=en#/members/706" class="OWAAutoLink">https://uniweb.uottawa.ca/?lang=en#/members/706</a></p>
<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">[On research sabbatical July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020]</p>
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