Monographs are doing OK: a response to Louise Adler

"Despite what Louise Adler says in The Australian, the future of monograph publishing in Australia is looking well and the opportunities for Australian academics to publish their research have actually been growing....The traditional, print-based model of scholarly publishing is losing touch with the modern researcher who is increasingly interested, and often required, to have the research publications available in open access mode. Academics want their books to appear fast, in a digital format and with a creative commons licence so that they can share them with colleagues and students without breaking the copyright law. While I agree with Adler’s call for more subsidies, the question remains where and how the resources should be invested. I remain somewhat unconvinced by a vision of a new network and a portal promoted exclusively by commercially driven presses looking for ways to prop up their traditionally run businesses. A model developed by non-for-profit university publishers seems to be a better use of taxpayer money. With the focus on innovative and cost-effective production and distribution processes, the open access model is cheaper, more efficient and successful way to publish and disseminate research output of Australian scholars...."