Publishing in journals is a major way for those of us in academics to advance at our universities. This advancement includes potential salary raises. Is this method a fair way to advance? I’m not sure especially for those in the liberal arts or fine arts or for those in “career line” academic pathways (including many academic physicians like myself).
I have noticed recently that more and more average to top tier journals are now requiring authors to pay a fee for the “privilege” of having a journal publish their work. So…..The author writes the manuscript, submits the manuscript to the journal, makes revisions based on peer review, and then the journal publishes the manuscript without having done any of the work. University libraries, cities, countries, etc. pay for access to these journals. These fees are often excessive. And now the publisher of these journals want the authors to pay for the ability to have their work published? Insane.
Just recently, I have been considering submitted a case report (i.e., a report of a single patient case with unique findings) to a top tier journal in my specific field. This case report is supposed to be around 1500 words with only around 10 references allowed. The personal cost for me to publish this article is $500. Wow.
It is well known that journals, especially medical journals, make huge profit margins. I mean, absolutely insane profit margins! A journal having a manuscript author now pay for publication is adding insult to injury.
Here is where I think sites like arXiv or medrXiv are the potential solutions to this financial craziness.
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Phi-The-Sci: Equilateral Musings 