« Profit by Saving Advertisers from Folly | Home | New CA Law Is Bad for Publishers Everywhere »

Open Access to Scientific Research?

Posted on Saturday, December 28, 2019 at 8:38 PM

A rumored executive order in the works by the White House could spell trouble for scientific journal publishers.

Several major outlets, including Vox and Science magazine, have recently reported on a rumored executive order by President Trump that would make federally funded scientific research immediately available to the public. In response, report Jeffrey Brainard and David Malakoff of Science magazine, more than 125 scientific societies and journal publishers are cautioning the president against the rules change: “In three separate letters, they argue such a move would be costly, could bankrupt many scientific societies that rely on income from journal subscriptions, and would harm the scientific enterprise.

The White House hasn’t commented on the rumored executive order, but public debate is already in full swing. Brian Resnick and Julia Belluz of Vox.com write that the rules change “could be a big win for a movement known as Open Science, which has complained that for too long, taxpayer-funded research has been locked behind expensive paywalls, keeping it out of reach for the people who paid for it.” But, as Brainard and Malakoff note in their piece, “publishers ... argued such a policy would destroy a long-standing, subscription-based business model that has well served society and scientists.”

Read the Vox piece here and the Science piece here.

Also Notable

Controversial California Freelancer Law to Take Effect

Next week, California’s new labor law redefining the parameters of freelance work goes into effect. AB5, intended to protect gig workers from essentially working full-time for companies without any protections or benefits, caps editorial and journalistic freelancers at 35 “submissions” per year before they must be hired as staff by a company. The cap is problematic for publishers whose freelancers contribute content weekly or daily. Vox has already let go roughly 200 of its freelancers, many of whom work for Vox’s network of online sports communities, SB Nation. Read more about AB5 here.

Publishers Fighting Churn

This year, major publishers such as Bloomberg and Fortune erected paywalls to fight digital advertising shortfalls and reader retention problems. Lucinda Southern of Digiday.com warns that the battle against churn is just beginning: “While these publishers are still in growth mode for subscriber acquisition, this won’t last, and 2020 will see them joining more mature subscription publishers in fighting a constant battle against churn.” She discusses the dangers of prioritizing the pursuit of new readers at the expense of keeping existing ones. Read more here.

Add your comment.

« Profit by Saving Advertisers from Folly | Top | New CA Law Is Bad for Publishers Everywhere »