The publishing industry against open access journals

Abstract

Open-access journal publishing has significantly grown in recent years. Restricted access publications have, in turn, increasing access costs as they benefit from a unique economic model in which relevant work and essential inputs are provided free of charge to vendors who have a captive market that has almost no competition. An additional issue typical of industries that work under the copyright regime is that the oligopoly market structure of the publishing industry which in turn further contributes to increase their products' prices. Mandatory open-access policies, as determined by the NIH, constitute a threat to this business model and are being challenged by the industry on several fronts, including the passage of legislation to undermine these initiatives. The purpose of this commentary article was to review key aspects of this confrontation and to suggest potential strategies for encouraging open-access publishing in Brazil.