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THE ECONOMICS OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION
Conference organized by the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and
Economics (EIPE) in Collaboration with the Institutional History of
Economics (IHE) Research Area of the European Association for
Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE)
Wednesday, 19 April 2000
Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics
Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Program
8:30- 9:15 Reception
Panel and Overview
Chair: Arjo Klamer (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
9:15- 9:45 Panel of book publishers, journal publishers, and
librarians: What are the questions?
9:45-10:15 Steve Fuller (University of Warwick, UK): The
Publication Nexus as Defeating the Republican Ideal of Science
10:15-10:45 A. Javier Izquierdo Martfn (UNED Madrid, Spain):
Art-Imitating Nature: Scientific Authorship as "Appropriatory Art"
10:45-11:00 Break
Overview and Panel Response
Chair: Esther-Mirjam Sent (University of Notre Dame)
11:00-11:30 Arjo Klamer (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the
Netherlands) and Harry van Dalen (WRR and Erasmus University
Rotterdam, the Netherlands): Attention and the Art of Scientific
Publishing
11:30-12:00 Panel of book publishers, journal publishers, and
librarians: Are our question addressed?
12:00-13:30 Lunch
Publication Crisis
Chair: Ruth Towse (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
13:30-14:00 Maarten F. Cornet and Ben A. Vollaard (Centraal
Planbureau, the Netherlands): Tackling the Journal Crisis: When
Authors Pay with Money instead of Copyrights
14:00-14:30 Jan Bergstra (University of Amsterdam, the
Netherlands): A Sharp Debate in Computer Science
14:30-14:45 Break
Economics of the Publication Crisis
Chair: Uskali MSki (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
14:45-15:15 Bob Parks (University of Washington at St. Louis,
USA): The Faustian Grip: A Dismal Essay of Status-Quo in
Academic Publishing
15:15-15:45 Henk W. Plasmeijer (University of Groningen, the
Netherlands): Pricing the Virtual Library
15:45-16:00 Break
Publication Possibilities
Chair: Wilfred Dolfsma (Technical University Delft)
16:00-16:30 John Mackenzie Owen (University of Amsterdam,
the Netherlands):
The New Dissemination of Knowledge: Digital Libraries and
Institutional Roles in Scientific Publishing
16:30-17:00 Thomas Krichel (University of Surrey, UK): Working
towards an Open Library for Economics: The RePEc Project
17:00-17:15 Break
Discussion
Chairs: Arjo Klamer and Esther-Mirjam Sent
17:15-18:15 Panel of book publishers, journal publishers, and
librarians: What about these answers?
19:00 Dinner
Abstracts
Jan Bergstra (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands): A Sharp
Debate in Computer Science
In computing the debate about the status of commercial journals is
very sharp. I will discuss the case of some particular journals. The
arguments in favor and against cooperation of scientists with these
are reviewed. The question whether there are aspects specific for
computing is reviewed.
Maarten F. Cornet and Ben A. Vollaard (Centraal Planbureau, the
Netherlands): Tackling the Journal Crisis: When Authors Pay with
Money instead of Copyrights
Abstract: There is a crisis in scientific publishing. The most
pressing problem is the reduced access to scientific knowledge,
caused by ever-rising prices for journals and limited library budgets.
The journal crisis is a logical result of the current set-up of the
market. Publishers who obtain copyrights on high-quality papers
(their most important input) are able to charge monopoly prices,
since papers are not interchangeable like jars of peanut butter.
Recent changes in ICT enable a reform of this market setup. If the
government wants to fundamentally tackle the journal crisis it could
target policy at the limitation of access: publishers' copyrights on
scientific papers. When copyrights are made ineffective by placing
them in the hands of an independent institute, and authors pay
publishers with money instead of copyrights, a competitive system
of scientific publishing and free access to scientific papers can
result.
Steve Fuller (University of Warwick, UK): The Publication Nexus as
Defeating the Republican Ideal of Science
Abstract: Decisions taken by, on the one hand, academic journal
and book publishers and, on the other, scholars who refer to work
appearing in their publications constitute two defining moments in
the interface between the production and distribution of scientific
knowledge. However, neither have as their primary concern the
advancement of knowledge as a public good. Rather, for each,
offering some direction along these lines is a vehicle for promoting
their own ends, which can be summarized as the accumulation of
a certain kind of capital, be it called "economic" or "symbolic."
Unfortunately, because there are no institutions explicitly designed
for the advancement of knowledge as a public good, some
combination of publication and citation practices functions as a
surrogate standard by which policymakers -- both in and out of
academia -- assess the growth of knowledge. Thus, one turns to
such things as book sales, journal circulations, and citation counts
as "science indicators." This effectively means that the republican
ideal of science as the "open society" is held hostage to the
material conditions of knowledge production. In this talk, I describe
several forms that this captivity can take and the distortions to the
republican ideal that result.
A. Javier Izquierdo Martfn (UNED Madrid, Spain): Art-Imitating
Nature: Scientific Authorship as "Appropriatory Art"
Abstract: In this paper we will claim that radical aesthetic attempts
at freeing artistic creativity from the kind of expert judgement and
scholarly critique that takes the form of objective explanatory
models of "authenticity", can help us understand a much neglected
literary enigma: that of scientific authorship. An enigma that can be
expressed as follows: is it possible to be objective-neutral and
creative-personal at the same time? Is it possible for someone to
completely appropriate the style of other (Nature, Society, Reality)
without being discredited as a counterfeiter, much the contrary
being praised as "original"? There is indeed a flagrant contradiction
in the fact that a person could reach the status of a "creative
being", as most successful scientists do, by the very means of
refusing to have a personal style at all, as demanded by the
positivist canon in the philosophy of science adhered by most of
these individuals. But a very similar paradoxical operation has been
successfully accomplished outside the realms of science, by an
artistic avant-garde movement known as "appropriatory art" that
took hold in the visual arts and music during the 80s and the 90s.
As the positive scientist claiming to objectively represent natural
phenomena and laws without polluting or deforming it to adapt to
his personal desires or tastes, appropriatory artists such as painter
Mike Bildo, photographer Sherry Levine or loads of DJs turned
"sampling musicians", adopted what can be considered a scientific
approach to art: they refuse to have a "personal style" by directly
copying or imitating the work of others... but then claimed the
status of original authors by adding their own name or signature to
the faked work. Whether in its historical, sociological or economic
variety, the progressive codification of subjective aesthetic and
stylistic judgment in the form of objective (even quantitative) criteria
and abstract theoretical (even mathematical) explanatory models,
can always be countered by reflexive artistic actions seeking to
break-up with the metaphysical burden of style. Counterfeiters do
indeed make use of public expert knowledge to product better
fakes and cheat those same experts. Extreme cases of scientific
fraud, such as data faking, play the same critical role for the
formulation and evolution of explicit models of scientific
authenticity. The progressive standardization of peer-review
procedures and editorial norms of style and content being here the
most effective way for accommodating all forms of novelty and
uniqueness into reliable public expression. And, for that very same
reason, also the most powerful weapon in the hands of a skillful
faker.
Arjo Klamer (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and
Harry van Dalen (WRR and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the
Netherlands): Attention and the Art of Scientific Publishing
Abstract: Attention is the scarce good in the world of science (and
so it is in other worlds). Characteristic for attention in the
scientific world is that those who seek attention are the same
people who are giving it. We discuss the effect this characteristic
has on the institutions of scientific publication. Next we discuss
the possible effects of a digitization on scientific publishing. An
important thesis is that scientists go in groups and that instead of
operating in widespread networks they converse in clusters. A
clear indication for this is the clustering of citations. An another
important feature is the skewed distribution of attention. Again,
citations are the first indicator. We consider the institution the
gatekeepers who bear major responsibilities for selection among all
those who seek attention. How might this institution change and
what are the consequences for the allocation and distribution of
attention?
Thomas Krichel (University of Surrey, UK): Working towards an
Open Library for Economics: The RePEc Project
Abstract: After arXiv.org, the RePEc Economics library offers the
second-largest source of freely downloadable scientific papers in
the world. RePEc has a different business model and a different
content coverage and than arXiv.org. This talk will address both
aspects. As far as the business model is concerned, RePEc is an
instance of a concept that I call the "Open Library". An Open
Library is open in two ways. It is open for contribution (third parties
can add to it), and it is open for implementation (many user
services may be created). Conventional (including most digital)
libraries are closed in both directions. As far as the content
coverage is concerned, RePEc seeks to build a relational dataset
about scholarly resources and other aspects of reality that are
related to the resources. This basically means identifying all
authors, all papers all institutions that work in Economics. Such an
ambitious project can only be achieved if the cost to collect
metadata is decentralized and low, and if the benefits to supply
metadata are large. The Open Library provides a framework where
these conditions are fulfilled.
John Mackenzie Owen (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands):
The New Dissemination of Knowledge: Digital Libraries and
Institutional Roles in Scientific Publishing
Abstract: The dissemination of scientific information through
publications traditionally has been based on the information chain
model with a clear distinction between functional roles such as
knowledge creation, publishing and intermediation. These roles are
performed by separate institutions (e.g. research institutes,
publishers and libraries) and also refer to distinct responsibilities.
However, digitization and networks are leading to new digital
distribution models - notably the concept of 'digital libraries' -
which will challenge and transform the roles and responsibilities of
the various actors in the information chain. This paper discusses
such developments and their implications for traditional institutional
roles and the underlying economic structure of the information
chain. This discussion is then related to Michael Gibbons' notions
of new knowledge production modes and to transdisciplinary
knowledge dissemination.
Bob Parks (University of Washington at St. Louis, USA): The
Faustian Grip: A Dismal Essay of Status-Quo in Academic
Publishing
Abstract: Harnad describes the Faustian Bargain in which
academic authors gave up their copyrights to publishers to get
distribution of their works. The Faustian Grip describes, in a
dismal way, why the bargain will remain even in the face of new
technologies. The primary reason for this path dependence is that
the institution of academic publishing has little to no incentive to
change the status quo and quite a bit of incentive to maintain it.
Henk W. Plasmeijer (University of Groningen, the Netherlands):
Pricing the Virtual Library
Abstract: This paper deals with the origins of the extraordinary
price increases of academic journals; a phenomenon often called
the serials crisis, and the transmission of the crisis into the
electronic age. The paper is written from an economist's point of
view. It is argued that attempts to dampen the crisis by means of
changing the copyrights structure or by means of increasing the
number of university owned academic journals, probably lead into a
dead alley. The main argument is that for stopping the serials
crisis, or for preventing it to go on in the electronic age, academic
institutions should rethink the market structure of scientific
communication. This means that first they should try to
synchronize the individual and institutional willingness to pay for
scientific information, and that second they should work hard to
introduce some competition between the providers of bundles of
electronic journals. The paper builds upon material that was
published before in the Dutch language. In order to show how
commercial publishers are preparing themselves for the electronic
age, recent figures and information about market concentration are
added. 1. The origin of the serials crisis is found in the seventies of
the last century. The market for academic journals is characterized
by a highly inelastic institutional demand and a highly elastic
demand of personal subscribers. The total demand curve is kinked
to the origin. An increase in the number of journal titles shifted the
demand curve of the personal subscribers for each title downwards,
which resulted in a sudden increase of institutional subscription
rates. 2. It seems that these early price jumps have triggered of a
budget-price spiral. Librarians started to anticipate on price
increases and commercial publishers responded to the increasing
willingness to pay as could be expected. 3. The problem is not the
monopoly position of the commercial publishers. Copyrights on
academic articles are perhaps not in harmony with the ideal of the
free flow of scientific information, but they certainly are in harmony
with the organization of the academic career structure. Those
copyrights will always be owned by those who realize the highest
value added. 4. Increasing the number of non-commercially offered
journals will not help. The scientific information need is limitless
and the new information is additional. It may drive average quality
down. And once again, the property rights on the best journals will
eventually come into the hands of those who realize the highest
value added. 5. At the supply side of the market a drastic change
takes place with the coming of the virtual library. The academic
journals will come in bundles. This explains the rather feverish
concentration among scientific publishers. (Recently: Francis and
Taylor; in 1999 number one with respect to price increases.) 6. The
present paper argues that competition among intermediate
suppliers of bundles of journals (EBSCO, Swets and Zeitlinger),
organized as contract management, in combination with a strictly
monitored development of the institutional willingness to pay can
put a brake on the serials crisis.
Registration costs: DFL 100 or EURO 45 (registration + lunch),
DFL 200 or EURO 90 (registration + lunch + dinner), DFL 35 or
EURO 15 (student registration + lunch), DFL 135 or EURO 60
(student registration + lunch + dinner).
Please send a message to Loes van Dijk at <[log in to unmask]>
to receive a registration form. She can also be reached by phone at
+31-10-4088967 and via fax at +31-10-4088979.
Further updates will be posted at:
http://www.eur.nl/fw/philecon/econpub.html
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