Academic publishers are for-profit businesses that publish scholarly research monographs and studies across various fields and disciplines, such as humanities or social sciences.
Scholarly publishing is an immensely profitable industry. The top three publishers of scientific journals–Elsevier, Springer-Kluwer and Wiley-Blackwell–account for the majority of journal articles published.
Publication cost
Academic publishing has become an expensive venture, leading to a decline in high-quality scholarly journals.
Academic publishers’ publication costs vary based on several factors, such as journal type, submission volume, author fees and copyright costs. Generally speaking, open access (OA) journals have lower costs than subscription-based (paid) ones.
Publication costs also include non-publication expenses such as editorial, advertising, marketing and sales costs.
Traditional journals typically charge page and color printing charges to cover the expenses of producing print-ready copies. These fees can range anywhere from $100-250 each for pages, to $150-1,000 for single color figures.
The publication cost of an academic journal is determined by its niche market and institutional policies. While most open access (OA) journals have relatively low costs, some traditional or specialized journals charge very high costs to publish.
Copyrights
When an author submits their manuscript to an academic publisher, they typically sign an agreement with the journal that assigns all copyrights to them. While this practice is commonplace, it can pose problems for authors and their research.
In certain circumstances, authors may be able to retain certain rights to their work in order to avoid these issues. This can be accomplished either by attaching an addendum to the publisher copyright agreement form or crafting and signing an addendum on their own behalf.
Copyrights are a complex set of rights that cover reproduction, distribution, public performance and display. When copyrights are transferred to another party, the author must still obtain consent from the holder before engaging in certain uses.
Additionally, there are legal ramifications associated with sharing works online. These include prior publication, sharing via campus passwords or scholarly repositories, as well as reuse of images and figures.
Scope of the journal
When selecting a journal to submit your work to, it’s essential to consider its objectives and scope. This is an invaluable tool that will allow you to comprehend what type of articles the journal seeks and guarantee that your piece fits within their guidelines.
A journal’s mission and scope are often summarized on its homepage. Pay close attention to this information, then read some sample articles for insight.
Another essential aspect to consider is whether your research appeals to the journal’s audience. This could be determined by the language or subject matter of your paper, as well as whether it has regional relevance.
The scope of a journal’s publication can usually be determined from its website or in an about us section or instructions to authors. This provides you with an accurate picture of the type of articles they publish and how they are reviewed.
Distribution
Scholarly publishers provide the scientific community with valuable information and knowledge in various forms, such as specialized books and journals. These publications connect researchers to work that is pertinent and beneficial for them personally.
However, academic publishers have a notorious reputation for distorting science. Some critics even suggest they may be harming the scientific process itself.
They contend that the current structure of the industry gives publishers a monopoly over setting prices, leading to numerous issues.
One issue is the rising prices of journals over the last three decades, which has adversely affected library acquisition budgets and left libraries with fewer and fewer titles to purchase. Furthermore, some large journal publishers are beginning to aggregate or “bundle” electronic content, offering libraries packages of journals with strong economic incentives to purchase them rather than individual titles. This leads to decreased library acquisitions budgets and leads libraries to purchase fewer and fewer titles overall.
