Paying for publication: issues and challenges for research support services

Abstract

Payment for publication is an increasingly prevalent component of the scholarly publishing landscape, and librarians have a professional requirement to be aware of the current situation. This paper explores this phenomenon, including an analysis of what is being charged for publication. Comparisons between the different types of open access publishing, in fully open access and in hybrid journals, show the considerably higher costs of hybrid open access. Despite this discrepancy there remain issues with the discoverability of some hybrid open access articles. Payment for publication is changing the funding base for scholarly publication therefore broadening the administrative areas responsible for management of the system. New relationships between players across the sector need to be developed and fostered. To participate in this changing landscape librarians need a knowledge of the source of institutional and government funds for article processing charges and these funding bodies' approaches to funding hybrid. New offerings from publishers, such as membership schemes and mega journals further complicate the situation, not helped by challenges in obtaining data about what is being spent in this area. This increasingly complex situation potentially expands the role of libraries within institutions into the future, which is preferable to becoming irrelevant.