Here is proposed a publishing model in which the authors of scientific publications are paid from the subscription income of the journal in which their articles are published. In respect to the each article, the journal need to calculate all expenses related to the work of editors, reviewers, staff for technical preparation and all other related costs including profit of the publishing company; in open access model such lump sum is known as the Article Processing Charge – APC, where within the proposed model, two options are possible: 1) if the authors of the certain article cover the APC, all future income provided through the subscription or directly by the readers’ payments for each download (royalty), should be transferred to the authors, 2) if the APC is not covered by the authors, after the certain period (if ever), the journal will cover the APC through the subscription or through the payments per download, after which the authors will start to collect profit in the same way as already explained. Using the proposed model, the authors will have possibility to reinvest in their own future research based on the quality of their personal previous publishing output. In that way, good authors would have additional income, and they would have more freedom to decide in which direction their research would go.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE PROPOSED PUBLISHING MODEL
3. CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this work is to address the unsustainable nature of current academic publishing models by proposing a new, author-oriented framework that incentivizes reinvestment in scientific research and rewards authors financially based on the reach and quality of their published work.
- Critique of existing subscription, pay-per-download, and open-access publishing models.
- Proposal of a revenue-sharing model that redirects proceeds from downloads to the authors after costs are covered.
- Integration of financial incentives for peer reviewers within the publishing ecosystem.
- Use of modern payment infrastructure, such as blockchain, to facilitate transparent transactions.
- Mitigation of the financial burden on taxpayers by creating self-sustaining, high-quality research outputs.
Excerpt from the Book
THE PROPOSED PUBLISHING MODEL
The proposed model is based on subscription or on pay per download, but with the strong feedback that provides reinvestment in research. The possible illustrative symbol (icons) which can be visually associated with the proposed methods is shown in Figure 1.
In the proposed publishing model, after the certain number of downloads, this can happen after few days or even after few decades (if ever), the publisher will cover its in advance calculated costs for preparation of the certain article, for organizing the peer-review process, for the costs for keeping the article online, all including the profit of the publishing company, etc. (Pinfield et al. 2016), after which the whole future revenue need to be redirected to the authors of the observed paper. In the widely known open access models (Solomon 2013), costs and profit in total associated with the certain article should be equal to the Article Processing Charge – APC. The here proposed model can be time delayed when the authors need to wait to gain the profit until its article reach the number of downloads which will cover the APC (Figure 1a), or if the authors directly cover the one-off APC, all income from the subscription or from the pay per download will be transferred to the authors (Figure 1b). In this model, amount provided for subscription for the entire journal need to be normalized to the certain article based on the number of downloads, as explained through the examples bellow. Also, after the APC is covered, the publisher needs to assign a lump sum to pay reviewers’ (Spearpoint 2017) before it proceeds to pay the authors.
Summary of Chapters
INTRODUCTION: This section critiques current publishing models, arguing that they prioritize commercial profit over researcher reinvestment and create a cycle where taxpayers fund research and pay again for access.
THE PROPOSED PUBLISHING MODEL: This chapter introduces a mechanism where subscription and download revenues are redirected to authors once the Article Processing Charge (APC) or associated publication costs are recovered, while also suggesting compensation for reviewers.
CONCLUSION: This final section emphasizes that the proposed model provides a sustainable financial path for authors of high-quality research and offers a viable alternative to existing systems that favor large commercial publishers.
Keywords
Academic publishing, Hybrid publishing, Article Processing Charge, Revenue-sharing model, Scientific communication, Peer review compensation, Blockchain technology, Open access, Subscription models, Research funding, Scholarly publishing, Authors' revenue
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core issue addressed in this work?
The paper addresses the unsustainable nature of current scientific publishing models, which are often oriented toward maximizing commercial profits for publishers rather than supporting researchers or reinvesting in further scientific discovery.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The main themes include the financial dynamics of open-access and subscription journals, the role of Article Processing Charges (APC), the economic burden on taxpayers, and the potential for new financial models to better serve the academic community.
What is the central research goal?
The primary goal is to propose an author-oriented publishing model that rewards researchers for their work, incentivizes quality, and provides a framework for financial reinvestment into future research.
Which scientific methods are analyzed in the paper?
The paper utilizes a conceptual and economic analysis of existing publishing infrastructures, comparing subscription-based models and open-access models to propose a new, hybrid revenue-redirection system.
What is covered in the main section?
The main section details the mechanics of the proposed publishing model, including how costs are normalized across downloads, how authors gain revenue, and how blockchain technology could be implemented for transparent payment distribution.
What are the key terms used to describe this model?
The work is characterized by terms such as "Authors’ revenue-based publishing model," "Hybrid publishing," and "Academic digital publishing."
How does the author propose to handle potential disputes with funders?
The author suggests avoiding direct acknowledgments of funders in the article itself, proposing instead the use of external services like ORCID to manage the relationship between researchers and their funding institutions.
What role does blockchain play in the suggested system?
Blockchain technology is proposed as a potential system for executing secure, transparent, and automated payments between the publishing house, reviewers, and authors.
How is the transition from subscription revenue to author profit calculated?
The author provides examples where costs are normalized based on download statistics; once the specific costs associated with an article—such as the APC or administrative preparation—are covered, subsequent revenue is transferred to the authors.
- Citar trabajo
- Dejan Brkić (Autor), 2019, A possible publishing model profitable for authors, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/463420
