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Why have so many
academics decided to
  boycott Elsevier?
    Nick Scott-Samuel
     Experimental Psychology
       University of Bristol
Acknowledgements

  Deborah Apthorp
     Lee de-Wit
    Pete Etchells
  Alex Holcombe
    Amye Kenall
     Tim Meese
   Pete Thompson
      Jon Peirce
    Ian Thornton
Why I don’t like symposia

                     Oooh, yes!      They’re very
  Aren’t stripes                      interesting
     nice?



Everyone’s
 wearing
them, you
 know…




      etc.
This one is different (of course)
                        Why am I here?

                          CVNet post:
“I'm beginning to feel somewhat undecided about reviewing for
  journals which aren't Open Access, and I wonder if this is an
         uncertainty shared by the vision community.”

        Large response (c.75 replies, not all to the list)

                     Majority anti-Elsevier

                     Interesting age profile

  Discussion diverted into general issues about open access,
                        copyright etc.
A number of issues – all mixed up
   Broadly, there are issues of principle, and issues about money

                     Naturally they overlap…


Principle
       • Almost all research, directly or indirectly, is publicly
funded
       • Access to this research should be free to those who paid
for it
       • Therefore: open access

Money
        • Academics provide free labour and content to publishers
        • These publishers should pay us, or not make profits from
Issues of principle

           I’m not really going to talk about these

    I get the argument, but I don’t find it that compelling

 I’m not sure how many members of the public have a great
                  interest in what we do

Of those that do, I don’t imagine many of them will get much
     out of a Vision Research or Current Biology paper



These issues of principle may arise elsewhere in this session
A nice analogy for the financial issue
                       From Dorothy Bishop
  <http://deevybee.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/time-for-academics-to-
                       withdraw-free.html>

“Jack is a sheep farmer. He gets some government subsidies, and also
   works long hours to keep his sheep happy and healthy. When his
    beasts are ready for slaughter, he offers them to an abattoir. The
     abattoir is very choosy and may reject Jack’s sheep, which is a
disaster for him, as there is no other route to the market. If he is lucky
the abattoir will accept the animals, slaughter them and sell them, at a
 large profit, to the supermarket. Jack does not see any of this money.
The populace struggle to afford the price of meat, but the government
has no control over this. When Jack feels like a nice piece of lamb, he
 buys it from the supermarket. Meanwhile, Jack provides his services
           for free as an inspector of other farmers’ animals.”
The publication process

                      I do some experiments

                          I write them up

  I submit them to a journal for publication, with a snappy title:

“The effect of 3rd-order signals on 1st-order artefacts in 2nd-order
                          motion stimuli”


                            Off it goes!
Production

   There is usually some editorial work, of variable quality

This stage is particularly useful for authors for whom English is
                   a second/third/etc. language
 (although a significant minority of referees will undertake this
                   along with scientific review)

    There may be some proofing and laying out of the text
                    (less so these days)

  Figures are generally required to be formatted by the author


                     And then: publication!
Summary of publishing process
Who does what:                       Cost to journal:

I do some experiments                Zero
I write them up                      Zero
I submit them to an editor           Zero
Out to referees                      Zero
Editorial decision                   Zero
Proofing by journal                  Something
Formatting by journal                Something
Publication by journal               Something

 So on this model of publishing, we academics generate the content,
   organise the quality control and sometimes format the content

                             All for free
Why boycott only Elsevier?

These financial issues are common to all publishing companies

     The process is pretty much the same wherever you go


               So what’s so bad about Elsevier?


         Elsevier exemplifies all the ills of this system

And it seems to manage to be a little more obviously worse than
                        everyone else

                         Here’s how…
Why boycott Elsevier? Profits

Operating profit margin, aka operating margin, aka operating
            income margin, aka return on sales

               = operating income / revenue

                      Bigger is better


                   5%       Tesco
                   7%       News Corporation
                  12%       BMW
                  22%       Coca Cola
                  36%       Apple
                  36%       Elsevier
Why boycott Elsevier? Cost

 Although there’s no obvious dramatic increase in publication and
    distribution costs, the cost of Elsevier journals keeps rising:


“MIT spending on serials increased by 426% over the period 1986-
2009, while the number of serials purchased decreased by 16%, and
       the Consumer Price Index increased by only 96%.”

 (Arnold & Cohn, 2012 <http://arxiv.org/pdf/1204.1351v1.pdf>)
Why boycott Elsevier? Bundling

“Bundling” is putting journals you want with journals you don’t into
                          a sales package

Your librarians end up paying for the dross along with the good stuff


      “Elsevier is among a handful of journal publishers whose
 commercial bundling practices are squeezing library budgets. Their
licensing programs require libraries to maintain large, fixed levels of
 expenditure, without the ability to cancel unneeded subscriptions.”

    (Sidney Verba, Director of the University Library, Harvard
                        University, 2004)
Why boycott Elsevier? Secrecy
          There’s a lack of transparency about pricing

  This allows Elsevier to charge different institutions differing
                  amounts for the same thing

   "Elsevier put a confidentiality clause in its contract with
     Imperial so my librarian can’t tell me how much their
                      subscriptions cost!”
             Stephen Curry, Imperial College, 2012
<http://blog.mysciencework.com/en/2012/08/20/stephen-curry-
                on-open-access-post-finch.html>

To be fair, this is by no means uncommon in business – there are
        plenty of other companies that do the same thing

But I don’t like it, and see no reason why business norms need to
Why boycott Elsevier? Deceit
       The Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine

            • Looks like a peer-reviewed journal but isn’t
              • No peer review – reprints or summaries
          • All with favourable data about Merck products
           • One review article had two references in it…
   • It appears to be a camouflaged marketing device for Merck

 “It turns out that Elsevier put out six such journals, sponsored by
 industry. The Elsevier chief executive, Michael Hansen, has now
   admitted that they were made to look like journals, and lacked
proper disclosure. “This was an unacceptable practice and we regret
                     that it took place,” he said.”
  <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/09/bad-
                science-medical-journals-companies>
How did this situation arise?

                  It’s a historical artefact

      If publishing itself is expensive and difficult…

            …a small cartel can can control it

If you own the only printing press in town, you have a nice
                monopoly on publication

                            BUT

         Most of us read things online nowadays

           Publishing is cheaper, faster, easier
Is a boycott the right approach?
In mathematics, whole editorial boards have resigned and set up
                alternatives to Elsevier journals


            Journal of Logic Programming (1999)
                Journal of Algorithms (2003)
                       Topology (2006)
Has the boycott had any effect?

In February this year, Elsevier withdrew its support for the Research
  Works Act (this would have prohibited open access mandates for
         government-funded research in the United States)

 There were enough online signatures to force the White House to
  incorporate the Federal Research Public Access Act into policy
 discussion; the act would require open access for work funded by
                   large US government agencies

Elsevier is (slowly) opening up its back catalogue for some journals

From April 2013, work from UK research council funding must be
         open access within six months of publication
A caveat

Last I heard, Elsevier charges $3600 to make a
           Vis Res paper open access

    So they can still rake in the money…
Problems
  The change to open access as a form of Prisoners’ Dilemma


                  It needs everyone to switch


If some people don’t change over, then their path to high-impact,
  non open access publications could be eased by the absence of
                      (some) competition


 So there will be a transition period, where things are awkward


                    But I think it’s the future
Hits on Web of Knowledge
                (searched on 31 August 2012)

                                                Vis Res
                           Vis Res       PLoS   since
                                         ONE    2006

“visual search”            312           70     148
“second-order motion”      161           5      44
“binocular rivalry”        190           36     76
“biological motion”        42            42     23
“eye movements”            1641          218    418
“face processing”          36            47     30
“colo(u)r constancy”       52            0      13
“spatial vision”           240           4      49
“object tracking”          15            8      12
Not just Vis Res vs. PLoS ONE
  There are an ever increasing number of open access journals
          e.g. JoV, PLoS ONE, Frontiers, iPerception

          Some make profits, some claim they don’t

        Early days: quality is sometimes hard to judge
(many newer ones won’t have an impact factor yet, for example)


Also journals that make things open access reasonably quickly
                      e.g. Proc R Soc B


              Elsevier doesn’t just publish Vis Res
    There’s also Current Biology, Cognition, TICS, TINS …
Problems
                    Publishing costs money


Open access just changes who pays: the authors, not the readers


So if we move to open access, we need to find the cash to do so*
                    * but note PLoS policy


Divert library funds previously used for journal subscriptions to
             pay for open access authors’ charges?


             Sounds appealing, but does it add up?
http://thecostofknowledge.com/
                Options:

             won’t publish
             won’t referee
         won’t do editorial work


 How many here have been to the website?


           How many signed?


           12,649 and counting

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Why have so many academics decided to boycott Elsevier?

  • 1. Why have so many academics decided to boycott Elsevier? Nick Scott-Samuel Experimental Psychology University of Bristol
  • 2. Acknowledgements Deborah Apthorp Lee de-Wit Pete Etchells Alex Holcombe Amye Kenall Tim Meese Pete Thompson Jon Peirce Ian Thornton
  • 3. Why I don’t like symposia Oooh, yes! They’re very Aren’t stripes interesting nice? Everyone’s wearing them, you know… etc.
  • 4. This one is different (of course) Why am I here? CVNet post: “I'm beginning to feel somewhat undecided about reviewing for journals which aren't Open Access, and I wonder if this is an uncertainty shared by the vision community.” Large response (c.75 replies, not all to the list) Majority anti-Elsevier Interesting age profile Discussion diverted into general issues about open access, copyright etc.
  • 5. A number of issues – all mixed up Broadly, there are issues of principle, and issues about money Naturally they overlap… Principle • Almost all research, directly or indirectly, is publicly funded • Access to this research should be free to those who paid for it • Therefore: open access Money • Academics provide free labour and content to publishers • These publishers should pay us, or not make profits from
  • 6. Issues of principle I’m not really going to talk about these I get the argument, but I don’t find it that compelling I’m not sure how many members of the public have a great interest in what we do Of those that do, I don’t imagine many of them will get much out of a Vision Research or Current Biology paper These issues of principle may arise elsewhere in this session
  • 7. A nice analogy for the financial issue From Dorothy Bishop <http://deevybee.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/time-for-academics-to- withdraw-free.html> “Jack is a sheep farmer. He gets some government subsidies, and also works long hours to keep his sheep happy and healthy. When his beasts are ready for slaughter, he offers them to an abattoir. The abattoir is very choosy and may reject Jack’s sheep, which is a disaster for him, as there is no other route to the market. If he is lucky the abattoir will accept the animals, slaughter them and sell them, at a large profit, to the supermarket. Jack does not see any of this money. The populace struggle to afford the price of meat, but the government has no control over this. When Jack feels like a nice piece of lamb, he buys it from the supermarket. Meanwhile, Jack provides his services for free as an inspector of other farmers’ animals.”
  • 8. The publication process I do some experiments I write them up I submit them to a journal for publication, with a snappy title: “The effect of 3rd-order signals on 1st-order artefacts in 2nd-order motion stimuli” Off it goes!
  • 9. Production There is usually some editorial work, of variable quality This stage is particularly useful for authors for whom English is a second/third/etc. language (although a significant minority of referees will undertake this along with scientific review) There may be some proofing and laying out of the text (less so these days) Figures are generally required to be formatted by the author And then: publication!
  • 10. Summary of publishing process Who does what: Cost to journal: I do some experiments Zero I write them up Zero I submit them to an editor Zero Out to referees Zero Editorial decision Zero Proofing by journal Something Formatting by journal Something Publication by journal Something So on this model of publishing, we academics generate the content, organise the quality control and sometimes format the content All for free
  • 11. Why boycott only Elsevier? These financial issues are common to all publishing companies The process is pretty much the same wherever you go So what’s so bad about Elsevier? Elsevier exemplifies all the ills of this system And it seems to manage to be a little more obviously worse than everyone else Here’s how…
  • 12. Why boycott Elsevier? Profits Operating profit margin, aka operating margin, aka operating income margin, aka return on sales = operating income / revenue Bigger is better 5% Tesco 7% News Corporation 12% BMW 22% Coca Cola 36% Apple 36% Elsevier
  • 13. Why boycott Elsevier? Cost Although there’s no obvious dramatic increase in publication and distribution costs, the cost of Elsevier journals keeps rising: “MIT spending on serials increased by 426% over the period 1986- 2009, while the number of serials purchased decreased by 16%, and the Consumer Price Index increased by only 96%.” (Arnold & Cohn, 2012 <http://arxiv.org/pdf/1204.1351v1.pdf>)
  • 14. Why boycott Elsevier? Bundling “Bundling” is putting journals you want with journals you don’t into a sales package Your librarians end up paying for the dross along with the good stuff “Elsevier is among a handful of journal publishers whose commercial bundling practices are squeezing library budgets. Their licensing programs require libraries to maintain large, fixed levels of expenditure, without the ability to cancel unneeded subscriptions.” (Sidney Verba, Director of the University Library, Harvard University, 2004)
  • 15. Why boycott Elsevier? Secrecy There’s a lack of transparency about pricing This allows Elsevier to charge different institutions differing amounts for the same thing "Elsevier put a confidentiality clause in its contract with Imperial so my librarian can’t tell me how much their subscriptions cost!” Stephen Curry, Imperial College, 2012 <http://blog.mysciencework.com/en/2012/08/20/stephen-curry- on-open-access-post-finch.html> To be fair, this is by no means uncommon in business – there are plenty of other companies that do the same thing But I don’t like it, and see no reason why business norms need to
  • 16. Why boycott Elsevier? Deceit The Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine • Looks like a peer-reviewed journal but isn’t • No peer review – reprints or summaries • All with favourable data about Merck products • One review article had two references in it… • It appears to be a camouflaged marketing device for Merck “It turns out that Elsevier put out six such journals, sponsored by industry. The Elsevier chief executive, Michael Hansen, has now admitted that they were made to look like journals, and lacked proper disclosure. “This was an unacceptable practice and we regret that it took place,” he said.” <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/09/bad- science-medical-journals-companies>
  • 17. How did this situation arise? It’s a historical artefact If publishing itself is expensive and difficult… …a small cartel can can control it If you own the only printing press in town, you have a nice monopoly on publication BUT Most of us read things online nowadays Publishing is cheaper, faster, easier
  • 18. Is a boycott the right approach? In mathematics, whole editorial boards have resigned and set up alternatives to Elsevier journals Journal of Logic Programming (1999) Journal of Algorithms (2003) Topology (2006)
  • 19. Has the boycott had any effect? In February this year, Elsevier withdrew its support for the Research Works Act (this would have prohibited open access mandates for government-funded research in the United States) There were enough online signatures to force the White House to incorporate the Federal Research Public Access Act into policy discussion; the act would require open access for work funded by large US government agencies Elsevier is (slowly) opening up its back catalogue for some journals From April 2013, work from UK research council funding must be open access within six months of publication
  • 20. A caveat Last I heard, Elsevier charges $3600 to make a Vis Res paper open access So they can still rake in the money…
  • 21. Problems The change to open access as a form of Prisoners’ Dilemma It needs everyone to switch If some people don’t change over, then their path to high-impact, non open access publications could be eased by the absence of (some) competition So there will be a transition period, where things are awkward But I think it’s the future
  • 22. Hits on Web of Knowledge (searched on 31 August 2012) Vis Res Vis Res PLoS since ONE 2006 “visual search” 312 70 148 “second-order motion” 161 5 44 “binocular rivalry” 190 36 76 “biological motion” 42 42 23 “eye movements” 1641 218 418 “face processing” 36 47 30 “colo(u)r constancy” 52 0 13 “spatial vision” 240 4 49 “object tracking” 15 8 12
  • 23. Not just Vis Res vs. PLoS ONE There are an ever increasing number of open access journals e.g. JoV, PLoS ONE, Frontiers, iPerception Some make profits, some claim they don’t Early days: quality is sometimes hard to judge (many newer ones won’t have an impact factor yet, for example) Also journals that make things open access reasonably quickly e.g. Proc R Soc B Elsevier doesn’t just publish Vis Res There’s also Current Biology, Cognition, TICS, TINS …
  • 24. Problems Publishing costs money Open access just changes who pays: the authors, not the readers So if we move to open access, we need to find the cash to do so* * but note PLoS policy Divert library funds previously used for journal subscriptions to pay for open access authors’ charges? Sounds appealing, but does it add up?
  • 25. http://thecostofknowledge.com/ Options: won’t publish won’t referee won’t do editorial work How many here have been to the website? How many signed? 12,649 and counting