[Tugindia] Re: tugindia Digest, Vol 20, Issue 10

[A. Mani]

>Message: 2
>Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 11:23:12 +0530 (IST)
>From: "CV Radhakrishnan" <cvr at river-valley.org>
>Subject: [Tugindia] [OT] article on (open) scientific publishing
>To: "TUGIndia Mailing List" <tugindia at tug.org>
>Message-ID: <63670.202.88.239.166.1092289992.squirrel at 202.88.239.166>
>Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
>
>  
>
>>>>>>"Ajit" == Ajit Ranade <akr at linux-delhi.org> writes:
>>>>>>            
>>>>>>
>
>    Ajit> the indian outsourced industry of scientific publishing will
>    Ajit> probably reach 500 million dollars soon, and is growing
>    Ajit> vigorously. but its growth depends on companies like
>    Ajit> elsevier, whose profit margins are hefty, and which enjoys a
>    Ajit> near monopoly worldwide. this monopoly is under threat, not
>    Ajit> just from regulators, but from the science community, who
>    Ajit> feel that access to research findings must be kept
>    Ajit> open. currently most research articles' copyright passes
>    Ajit> from author to elsevier, and access is restricted and very
>    Ajit> expensive. (some stats: annually 1.2m articles gets
>    Ajit> published in 16k periodicals. cornell university's library
>    Ajit> budget went up by 149 percent in 15 years, but number of
>    Ajit> periodicals went up by only 5 percent.)
>
>Thanks Ajit. You did the job, I was about to post the article to the
>list!
>
>I was curiously watching the developments relating to open access
>journal initiatives worldwide, primarily the initiatives of Public
>Library of Science and Berlin Declaration in which Elsevier too sent
>their delegates!  Nothing substantive happened except wild screams
>about open access.
>
>Two factors count much -- (1) the technologies of text processing, its
>various delivery formats and delivery systems (2) who will foot the
>bill?
>
>Unless the above two factors are answered satisfactorily, open access
>movements will not be able to compete with publishers like Elsevier.
>Needless to say that still more global experiments/initiatives are in
>the horizon, which will become reality very soon (of course with
>Indian participation) where the above two issues are addressed to a
>reasonable level.
>
>Best
>
>Radhakrishnan
>
>
>
>
>------------------------------
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>End of tugindia Digest, Vol 20, Issue 10
>****************************************
>
>  
>
In India in particular publications have started becoming electronic 
only during the last few years. It will be quite easy to make our open 
repositories if we make them subject-specific. We can charge researchers 
a small fee for the services too. There are absolutely no economic 
problems...only a need for a little enterprise. Computer professionals 
can and must (many reserchers do not care much about PCs or anything 
related) also help.

best,
A. Mani
Member, Cal. Math. Soc.