The publisher Pagepress is launching a new open access journal Antiqua. It is open access but it is based off of the concept that the author pays for the open access. Well sort of, there is a deal in which no one has to pay if they submit before the 31st of July, 2011.
I really wonder if this sort of journal can work in archaeology. Most archaeologists really would not be able to afford to pay to publish. Unlike other disciplines, such as the hard sciences, most archaeology research grants give peanuts out as far as money goes. At 500 euro (corrected from an earlier typo) no one is going to spend 1/5 (a lot of small grants are in the 2000-5000 range) of their grant money on the publication.
I guess you could say I am sceptically about this sort of open access journal but there is the chance that it could take off in archaeology, time will tell.
Paul Wren
June 10, 2011
The Submissions Page for Antuqua lists Author Fees of 500 EUR, not $5000… but it is still a non-trivial cost.
I poked around the PagePress site, looking for one of their more established OA journals so that I might find their rates for something not in the hard sciences. I picked Journal of Public Health in Africa, and the Author Fees are Euro 180 (US$250) if the author is from a developed country (they give a break to authors from developing countries). I then saw a Paleoanthropolgy journal Human Origins Research, and they are only charging 250 EUR.
I wonder why the archaeologists are being hit up for twice what they want from Paloeanthropologists?
Paul Wren
June 10, 2011
Just noticed that Human Origins Research is the official journal of the AAAP, so they are probably underwriting some of the publishing costs.
Doug Rocks-Macqueen
June 10, 2011
thanks, that was a typo. it’s corrected now. Society publications are very lucrative for normal publishing models, so like you say, chances are that the society is underwriting the costs in someway.
Bernard Rentier
June 11, 2011
How do Archaeologists pay for their access to the literature they need to read now? And how much?
The reason why you are worried about pay to publish rather than pay to read is probably because you feel that reading is free or almost: your institution is paying for your reading, most probably.
Well, let’s transpose into the new paradigm: with the savings made by no longer having to pay to acquire publications, your institution will be able to pay for you to publish… Simple. As long as “pay to publish” does not become another rackett.
Doug Rocks-Macqueen
June 11, 2011
My response was too long to post hear. Please see link- http://dougsarchaeology.wordpress.com/2011/06/11/clarification-on-author-pays-in-archaeology/
Thank you for your comments. I do like an idea of a paradigm change but it my not work in this case