IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v121y2019i1d10.1007_s11192-019-03200-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changes in revenue structure of a leading open access journal publisher: the case of BMC

Author

Listed:
  • Sumiko Asai

    (Meiji University)

Abstract

While traditional subscription journal publishers such as Elsevier have been developing a presence in the open access journal market since the 2000s, a few pioneering open access journal publishers have recently decreased the number of articles in their journals. Open access journal publishers’ revenues depend on both the number of articles published and the article processing charges imposed on authors. Therefore, this study investigates the time trends in the number of articles and article processing charges to examine the effect of competition on BMC, formerly BioMed Central, a leading publisher of open access journals. The findings show that the total annual number of articles in BMC journals increased consistently until 2015 but decreased in 2016, irrespective of the introduction of new journals. This study also examines the determinants of article processing charges using a sample selection model. The results show that BMC sets higher article processing charges for more frequently cited journals while setting lower charges for recently launched journals after controlling for other factors. Judging from the trends in the two components of revenues, there is no room to be overly optimistic about the open access journal market, irrespective of the present overall market growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Sumiko Asai, 2019. "Changes in revenue structure of a leading open access journal publisher: the case of BMC," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(1), pages 53-63, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:121:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03200-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-019-03200-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-019-03200-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-019-03200-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Yong & Ge, Yanxia, 2018. "The effect of family property income on labor supply: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 114-121.
    2. Theodore C. Bergstrom, 2001. "Free Labour for Costly Journals?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 183-198, Fall.
    3. Ling Ling Wang & Xuan Zhen Liu & Hui Fang, 2015. "Investigation of the degree to which articles supported by research grants are published in open access health and life sciences journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 104(2), pages 511-528, August.
    4. David J. Solomon & Bo‐Christer Björk, 2012. "A study of open access journals using article processing charges," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(8), pages 1485-1495, August.
    5. David J. Solomon & Bo‐Christer Björk, 2012. "Publication fees in open access publishing: Sources of funding and factors influencing choice of journal," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(1), pages 98-107, January.
    6. Stephen Pinfield & Jennifer Salter & Peter A. Bath, 2017. "A “Gold-centric” implementation of open access: Hybrid journals, the “Total cost of publication,” and policy development in the UK and beyond," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(9), pages 2248-2263, September.
    7. Nawata, Kazumitsu, 2004. "Estimation of the female labor supply models by Heckman’s two-step estimator and the maximum likelihood estimator," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 385-392.
    8. Bo-Christer Björk & David Solomon, 2015. "Article processing charges in OA journals: relationship between price and quality," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(2), pages 373-385, May.
    9. David J. Solomon & Bo-Christer Björk, 2012. "A study of open access journals using article processing charges," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(8), pages 1485-1495, August.
    10. David J. Solomon & Bo-Christer Björk, 2012. "Publication fees in open access publishing: Sources of funding and factors influencing choice of journal," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(1), pages 98-107, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sumiko Asai, 2020. "Market power of publishers in setting article processing charges for open access journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 1037-1049, May.
    2. Milan Frederik Klus & Alexander Dilger, 2020. "Success factors of academic journals in the digital age," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1115-1143, November.
    3. Sumiko Asai, 2023. "Does double dipping occur? The case of Wiley’s hybrid journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(9), pages 5159-5168, September.
    4. Sergio Copiello, 2020. "Business as Usual with Article Processing Charges in the Transition towards OA Publishing: A Case Study Based on Elsevier," Publications, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oliver Budzinski & Thomas Grebel & Jens Wolling & Xijie Zhang, 2020. "Drivers of article processing charges in open access," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(3), pages 2185-2206, September.
    2. Andre Bruns & Niels Taubert, 2021. "Investigating the Blind Spot of a Monitoring System for Article Processing Charges," Publications, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-9, September.
    3. Sumiko Asai, 2020. "Market power of publishers in setting article processing charges for open access journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 1037-1049, May.
    4. María Bordons & Borja González-Albo & Luz Moreno-Solano, 2023. "Improving our understanding of open access: how it relates to funding, internationality of research and scientific leadership," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4651-4676, August.
    5. Stuart Lawson, 2015. "Fee Waivers for Open Access Journals," Publications, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-13, August.
    6. Jørgen Burchardt, 2014. "Researchers Outside APC-Financed Open Access," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(4), pages 21582440145, September.
    7. Sergio Copiello, 2020. "Business as Usual with Article Processing Charges in the Transition towards OA Publishing: A Case Study Based on Elsevier," Publications, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, January.
    8. Cleusa Pavan & Marcia C. Barbosa, 2018. "Article processing charge (APC) for publishing open access articles: the Brazilian scenario," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(2), pages 805-823, November.
    9. Melissa H. Cantrell & Juleah A. Swanson, 2020. "Funding Sources for Open Access Article Processing Charges in the Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities in the United States," Publications, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, February.
    10. Abdelghani Maddi & David / Sapinho, 2022. "Article Processing Charges, Altmetrics and Citation Impact: Is there an economic rationale?," Post-Print hal-03552377, HAL.
    11. Hajar Sotudeh & Zohreh Estakhr, 2018. "Sustainability of open access citation advantage: the case of Elsevier’s author-pays hybrid open access journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 563-576, April.
    12. Sumiko Asai, 2023. "Does double dipping occur? The case of Wiley’s hybrid journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(9), pages 5159-5168, September.
    13. Abdelghani Maddi & David Sapinho, 2022. "Article processing charges, altmetrics and citation impact: Is there an economic rationale?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7351-7368, December.
    14. Abdelghani Maddi & David Sapinho, 2021. "Article Processing Charges based publications: to which extent the price explains scientific impact?," Papers 2107.07348, arXiv.org.
    15. Milan Frederik Klus & Alexander Dilger, 2020. "Success factors of academic journals in the digital age," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1115-1143, November.
    16. Stephan Puehringer & Johanna Rath & Teresa Griesebner, 2021. "The political economy of academic publishing: On the commodification of a public good," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-21, June.
    17. Ana Teresa Santos & Sandro Mendonça, 2022. "Do papers (really) match journals’ “aims and scope”? A computational assessment of innovation studies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7449-7470, December.
    18. Wei Ming & Zhenyue Zhao, 2022. "Rethinking the open access citation advantage: Evidence from the “reverse‐flipping” journals," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(11), pages 1608-1620, November.
    19. Paul Sebo & Jean Pascal Fournier & Claire Ragot & Pierre-Henri Gorioux & François R. Herrmann & Hubert Maisonneuve, 2019. "Factors associated with publication speed in general medical journals: a retrospective study of bibliometric data," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 1037-1058, May.
    20. Doyle, Cathal, 2020. "How Can I Share My Work? A Review of the Open Access Policies of IS Journals," OSF Preprints xr8mv, Center for Open Science.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Open access journal; Number of articles; Article processing charge; BMC;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:121:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-019-03200-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.