APPENDIX 136
Supplementary evidence from Oxford University
Press
1. How would OUP's relationship to Oxford
University be affected if OUP adopted an author-pays publishing
model? For example, would you expect to publish more papers from
the University than from other sources?
Publication in our journals of papers from researchers
based at Oxford University represent only about 2.5 per cent of
our output. Since the scope and acceptance criteria of each journal,
together with decisions about whether to publish each paper, are
taken by independent academic editors from around the world, based
on advice from editorial boards and from expert referees who are
consulted as part of the peer-review process, there is in theory
little reason to expect this percentage to change substantially
under an open access model. However, if an author-funded open
access publication model is only mandated by selected Governments
or Research funding agencies then the percentage of papers submitted
to Open Access journals from any individual University or country
might vary substantially from the current levels. The degree to
which the existing research funding agencies are prepared to support
any OA mandate with appropriate allocation of funds will also
have an effect without some method for reallocating resources
from institutional user funding to institutional author funding;
some researchers might find it too expensive to publish their
work in the top rank journals, because these journals are likely
to be the most expensive in view of their high rejection rates.
Under a subscription model, there are no financial barriers to
the publication of high-quality research in the best journals.
2. What is the annual contribution of OUP
to Oxford University funds? How would this be altered under the
author-pays model?
As a department of the University, OUP has an
obligation beyond its scholarly and educational mission to provide
the rest of the University with a financial return. The Press
transfers 30% of its annual post-tax surplus to the rest of the
University, with a commitment to a minimum transfer of £12
million per annum.
Journal publishing represents only about 10%
of the total income of OUP, so any change in business models would
have little effect on our financial contribution to the University.
We do not consider that an author-pays model is likely to be an
appropriate one for the majority of our journals, because they
are mostly in subject areas where research is conducted largely
without the support of research grants. In the biomedical area
we are experimenting with a range of possible models to fund open
access publishing costs, including author-payment, as described
in further detail in our written submission.
May 2004
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