'Hidden' fees in scientific publishing

“The idea of 'open access' publishing ... has been gaining mainstream momentum recently. This is off the back of some high profile players backing the movement: the Wellcome Trust, the UK government-commissioned Finch committee, and the European Commission have all announced open access intentions.  The moral reasons (that the public should have access to the research it pays for), business case (that money currently paid to journals by institutions in subscription fees could be used for open access feed instead), and the community benefits (higher visibility, open data mining, cross-discipline/industry collaborations have been made forcefully and convincingly elsewhere. Read Cameron Neylon, Stephen Curry, Mike Taylor, and Richard van Noorden for more. I even did a piece for the Pod Delusion. There may even be as yet unknown benefits. Jo Brodie asked on Twitter whether wider open access would alter scientists' writing style, so that the lay person can better understand and engage with the research... One of the arguments against 'gold' open access ... is that it puts undue pressure on already squeezed budgets. During the transition ... to open access publishing, research institutions would have to pay subscriptions to access all the content that's still being published the 'old way', whilst also having to pay open access fees.  But one aspect in the debate has received less attention ... some subscription-based journals already charge the author(s) to publish papers. These can be charges for submitting a manuscript, colour figures, number of pages or supplementary material... looks pretty odd in the digital era. Some examples are: [1] Cell (Cell Press/Elsevier): $1,000 for the first colour figure, $275 for each one after that. [2] PNAS (National Academy of Sciences): $70 per page, $200 for each colour figure or table, $250 for up to five pages of supplementary material, $500 for six or more pages of supplementary material. [3] EMBO Journal (Nature Publishing Group): £158/$242 per article. [4] The Journal of Clinical Investigation (American Society for Clinical Investigation): A non-refundable fee of $75 for new submissions. [5] FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology): $80 per page for the first 8 pages, $160 per page for each page after that, $350 per colour figure, 8 or more figures/tables per article charged an additional $150 per figure and table, $160 for each unit of supplementary material.  [6] The Journal of Neuroscience (Society for Neuroscience): $980 publication fee for Regular Manuscripts and $490 for Brief Communications. If the first/last author isn't a society member and the editors don't think it's ‘essential’, the journal will charge $1,000 for a colour figure. [7] Human Molecular Genetics (Oxford University Press): £350/$600 per colour figure.  [8] Journal Medical Genetics (BMJ): £250 per article for printed colour figures. [9] Genetics (Genetics Society of America): $70 per page for corresponding authors who are members of the Genetics Society of America/$88 per page for non-members, $40 per figure, $275 per article for up to five pages of supplementary material/$500 per article for six or more pages of supplementary material. [10] The Journal of Biological Chemistry (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology): $80 per page for the first nine pages, $160 per page after that, $100 for each colour figure. (Discounts for ASBMB members who are the corresponding author - $10 per page and $50 per colour figure.) [11] Evolution (Wiley): $55 per printed page, $500 per colour figure. (SSE members can publish up to 12 black-and-white pages per year free of charge.) [12] Proteomics (Wiley): €196+VAT per Research Article exceeding seven pages, €500-€1664 for 1-4 colour figures...”