The scientific publishing industry operates with various economic models, influenced by major publishers, fraud, article evaluation, open access, and diamond road. In this Great Conversation, a collaboration between The Conversation and CanalChat in partnership with the Academy of Sciences, aims to shed light on a lesser-known world crucial for the future of research.
Researchers produce articles, often voluntarily review the work of their peers, and contribute to the publication process. However, the dissemination of these works is controlled by commercial publishers. The rise of open access has introduced a new model: APCs, publication fees that researchers or their institutions must pay to make their articles accessible.
As a result, the system now combines two payment logics. Institutions continue to pay subscriptions while increasingly funding APCs. In France, these fees may exceed 50 million euros by 2030. Plus, nearly 90 million euros are spent on journal subscriptions. This is economically unsustainable.
Solutions like the free scientific publishing model from the Academy of Sciences and CNRS exist, which are free for both authors and readers. However, their widespread adoption is slow. What are the reasons behind researchers continuing to engage in the APC system? How can open access be promoted? Our guests, researcher Patrick Couvreur and Academy of Sciences Heritage and Scientific Resources Director Justine Fabre, help clarify these issues in this new episode of The Great Conversation.
