Björn Brembs: Großverlage arbeiten daran, „den wissenschaftlichen Workflow zu monopolisieren“ - iRights.info - Kreativität und Urheberrecht in der digitalen Welt – iRights.info

"The business model of these four big publishers is identical, regardless of the subjects. The data say the following: Approximately 85 percent of the publishers' income comes from the public sector, i.e. from libraries. What is also known is the total volume of subscription income worldwide, about $ 10 billion a year for roughly two to three million items. This is roughly a price between $ 4,000 and $ 5,000 per published article that goes to the publishers. The publishers finance themselves through these subscription fees, and for some time now increasingly through the so-called Article Processing Charge (APC) of open access publications. At APC, you no longer pay for reading, but for publishing as an author. If you take such an article for $ 4,000, then about $ 600 is the cost of publication and about 30% profit, or about $ 1,200. That leaves $ 2,200.... For about ten years now, publishers have been investing a lot of money, buying up various technologies and startups. The aim is to cover and monitor the entire scientific process: from developing ideas to collecting and evaluating data, publishing, evaluating publications, anticipating research trends - i.e. everything from the first idea and cooperation with other colleagues to the end, if institutions How universities and research institutes evaluate which results are published, presented and cited in which faculty and how. From the very smallest beginning to the large, aggregated end.... There are several problems. Market power is just one problem. Such a publisher can then approach a university, an excellence initiative or a Max Planck Institute and say: Here, we have a package with which you can get rid of all of your worries. We take care of your data, your source code, your administrations can find out which employees are doing what where and how successful they are. We offer you all of this in one package, with great service at an affordable price - which costs just as much as the subscriptions for the journals that you pay all the time...."