Until the mid-1990s, most scientific publishing companies still used the same basic publishing model established in the 17th century. As Nick Fowler, Director of Strategy at Elsevier, explains, “authors would submit their articles to an appropriate journal, which would then facilitate the peer-review publishing process that culminated in publishing the final article.”

Today, particularly as a result of the Internet, we now have more distribution options at our disposal. “Elsevier’s largest platform for disseminating published journals is now ScienceDirect, and other stages of the peer-review publishing process have also undergone an electronic revolution,” says Fowler. “Authors can now submit articles via electronic submission systems, for example. In addition, publishing online, as well as in print, provides researchers with additional features that can dramatically improve productivity, including the ability to instantly access electronic versions of cited articles, rather than having to locate, request and wait for a physical copy. Consequently, researchers now read around twice as many articles from more than twice as many journals as they did in the 1980s.”

Changing business model
Over the past decade, Elsevier has also adapted its business models in response to technological developments. “For instance, electronic licenses often enable volume discounts,” Fowler continues. “A library that once subscribed to, say, 300 of Elsevier’s 1,800 print journal titles can, in an electronic environment, now access some or all of the remaining 1,500 journals at highly discounted rates. This has dramatically improved access levels for researchers, who now place ‘access to journals’ twelfth on their lists of concerns.” Their leading concern remains ‘access to research funds’.

Open access
The main four types of open-access publishing are: Author Pays, Sponsored Articles, Delayed Access and Open Archiving. Fowler points out that open access does not mean ‘free of charge’ or ‘open source’. “There are certain costs inherent to publishing articles in any respected journal, such as peer review, editing and printing, and these costs always have to be recouped.”

Author Pays
In Author Pays publishing, there are no subscription charges, so anyone can read the articles for free. “The disadvantage is that the author only pays if the article is accepted and published,” says Fowler. “Not only are some authors – in developing countries, for example – unable to pay, but this model could also put pressure on publishers to accept articles that they would otherwise reject. Since quality control could be compromised, Elsevier has chosen not to explore this avenue, which currently accounts for less than 1% of all articles published.”

Sponsored Articles
Sponsored Articles are peer reviewed and, if accepted, published in subscription journals. However, authors – or an author’s funding body – can pay a fee to make the article immediately accessible to anyone. Fowler says, “Elsevier is currently testing this option on 40 of our journals and, so far, we’ve found that very few authors are willing to pay the additional fee.”

Delayed Access
Delayed Access applies to around 6% of articles published in subscription journals. After a certain period of time (e.g. 12 months in fast-moving disciplines, such as Life Sciences), the articles are made available to non-subscribers. This model may work, provided that the time period is sustainable for the journal concerned. If it is too soon, subscriptions could be cancelled, compromising the journal’s sustainability. Fowler says, “Because usage and other factors vary so much across titles, the journal itself is in the best position to decide what this time period should be.”

Open archiving
Certain publishers, including Elsevier, voluntarily allow authors to post their accepted manuscripts on their own or their institution’s website. Authors are permitted to post the peer-reviewed manuscript, but the published journal article can only appear in one location, in order to preserve its integrity. “While most journals maintain a similar policy, only around 5% of authors take up this option and author-posted manuscripts have not yet significantly increased access levels,” Fowler says.

Maintaining perspective
Some forms of open access date back 10 years and all have been widely known for around five years. According to Fowler, “Their material effect on the established scientific publishing model has, so far, been marginal. Authors have not been willing to pay to publish their own articles, although a few institutions, such as the Wellcome Trust, are prepared to pay for unlimited access to Sponsored Articles. New access models are constantly developing, and Elsevier is open to testing and learning about positive innovations.”

Fowler adds, “Five criteria matter most to the researchers who read our journals: access, quality control, researcher efficiency, preservation and cost-effectiveness. We always assess the impact any new model will have on these criteria before making any decisions. There’s no point in making a step forward in one area if it causes a step backward in another.”

Exploring alternatives
Of course, open-access models are not the only new methods for accessing and disseminating information. “Other methods work well, too, and in some cases can produce additional benefits, such as improving researcher efficiency,” Fowler explains. “ScienceDirect is probably the best Elsevier example, as it has helped researchers read twice as many articles as in the past. Use of ScienceDirect is growing at around 20% per annum, and we’ve had more than a billion downloads from the site since it first went online more than 10 years ago.”

Publishers are also looking at other ways to expand access. “Under a UN initiative, we’re making content available free of charge to libraries in developing countries as part of the AGORA (agriculture), HINARI (health) and OARE (environment) programs,” says Fowler.

In September 2007, Elsevier launched its OncologySTAT portal, aimed at cancer researchers. The portal is free for users and is funded through advertising. “The portal is new and we’re currently assessing whether it is useful to oncologists and researchers, and whether advertisers are willing to fund it,” Fowler comments.

He continues, “WiserWiki is an experiment in community-based publishing, in which registered doctors can update the content themselves. Users can access WiserWiki for free while we explore its usefulness and research funding possibilities. We’ve simply planted a seed and are waiting to see whether it grows.”

Finally, 2collab is an interactive communication tool for scientists. “It’s an electronic environment in which scientists can comment on each others’ work and communicate with each other,” Fowler says.

Read more about these three tools in other articles in this issue.

The big picture
These are exciting times and Elsevier will continue to experiment with, test and learn new applications as they develop, explains Fowler. He compares the future of publishing to the future of energy. “We’re all looking for more efficient and sustainable sources of energy, but switching from an established system that delivers significant and broad benefits and moving to entirely new and untested alternatives is unlikely to be the answer. The costs and benefits of all sources need to be well understood, and often you can improve the yield or decrease emissions from existing sources. Similarly, in publishing, we’re experimenting with new models that can fulfill different roles, while constantly striving to improve existing models and maintain overall quality standards.”

To cite this article, please use: Gary Rudland, "Models for better access & dissemination", Elsevier Editors' Update, Issue 22, May 2008

Useful Links
  ScienceDirect
  OncologySTAT
  WiserWiki
  2Collab
  HINARI
  AGORA
  OARE

Please send responses to: EditorsUpdate@Elsevier.com