Re: public support of journals

From: Jan Velterop <openaccess_at_BTINTERNET.COM>
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 18:17:06 +0100

I've clearly missed something. Whence this discussion? Is there a
problem? One could easily make the case that *all* scholarly journals
are supported by public money. If not directly, then certainly
indirectly, as all journals get a substantial part of their revenues
(often the majority) from publicly funded institutions, who pay for
the subscriptions, licences, page charges, reprints, and the like.

That's true for many industries, though. Think of road construction,
and, dare I say it, arms manufacturing.

Jan Velterop

On 17 Sep 2005, at 15:20, Jean-Claude Guédon wrote:

> A member of the library of the Academy of science of China has
> responded
> to my query about public support of journals in her country. here is
> what she had to say:
>
> As far as we know, all the scholarly journals in China may more or
> less
> receive public support. Editorial office of the scholarly journals are
> always affiliated to a certain institute, school or society, which
> makes
> them more credible to readers. The institute, school or society would
> devote part of their budget supporting the journals. Nowadays more and
> more journals are turning to self-financing, but they still receive
> public support in the form of space, equipment or work-time of
> employees.
>
> Consequently, the case of China appears clear: all or nearly all
> scholarly publications in China receive some form of public support.
>
> In all three cases thus far surveyed - Canada, Chile, China - we
> find a
> majority of journals supported by public money. From Chile, we hear
> that
> the Chilean situation is replicated across the whole continent.
>
> If this is a marginal phenomenon, we must redefine the word
> "marginal"...
>
> jcg
>
>
> --
> Dr. Jean-Claude Guédon
> Dept. of Comparative Literature
> University of Montreal
> PO Box 6128, Downtown Branch
> Montreal, QC H3C 3J7
> Canada
>
Received on Sat Sep 17 2005 - 18:39:12 BST