From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:33:39 -0700 In my experience, there can be a great deal of tension over these issues. Some societies are eager to increase their revenue and look to commercial organizations as a way of doing that. In effect, the societies finance their own operations through the income earned from sales to libraries, which may be conducted by a third-party. There is a clear secular trend for society journals, for example, to end their association with university presses and make an arrangement with a larger entity that guarantees significant income. Joe Esposito On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 1:59 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:46:49 -0500 > > It does seem odd that societies would outsource their journal > publishing to large commercial publishers because they can be assured > in advance (1) that the prices will go way up, (2) fewer individuals > will be able to afford to subscribe to them, and (3) any profits made > will not redound to the benefit of academic research since they will > go to pay shareholders or be used to grow the size of the company > further so as to increase its market share. Why do scholars complain > about commercial journal practices and then turn around and allow > their societies to help those companies profit even further at the > expense of academe? > > Sandy Thatcher > > > At 12:31 PM -0700 4/25/12, Heather Morrison wrote: > > > Interesting post and article by Matthew Thibeault: > > http://matthewthibeault.com/2012/04/16/the-politics-of-journal-publishing/ > > > > For-profit journals in this area charge 250% more than non-for-profits. Why? Because they can! > > > > Heather G. Morrison