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Rants about Publications
Jun. 7th, 2006 09:10 pmUpon occasion, I find myself in need of a published article for reference. Usually, I can download what I need from the journal's website. However if the article's more than about 10 years old, I'm obliged to mosey off to the library. The library likes to bind all issues of a particular journal for a particular year into one volume. While a worthy goal, these tomes often become so vast that even when fully opened much text is lost in the crease. This makes it impossible to photocopy. Icarus is particularly bad about this. Yes, there is a space science journal called Icarus. Not my first choice for a name, but whatever.
As my convection paper inches toward publication (in JGR-Planets, not Icarus), I reach the step at which I pay the publication fees. If you're in a scientific field yourself, you're probably used to it. But if not, you may find it odd for the author to pay. If your skills tend towards the literary arts, then you often recieve money when you publish an article. In the sciences it's the other way round. Also, they charge ridiculous prices for a subscription to the journal. What does this money go towards? The reviewers don't get paid. I'm pretty sure the associate editors aren't paid. Certainly not full time. The Editor is a full time job, but that's just one person. Not much of that money can be for printing, since most journals are mostly online these days. So, they have to pay for bandwidth, data storage, and an editorial staff. Why then, does my 18 page article with no color cost $1674 ? That money comes out of my grant, not my pocket, but still it seems ridiculous. Another oddity is that the price is the "suggested fee". We've got the option to haggle.
Time for the Colbert Report.
As my convection paper inches toward publication (in JGR-Planets, not Icarus), I reach the step at which I pay the publication fees. If you're in a scientific field yourself, you're probably used to it. But if not, you may find it odd for the author to pay. If your skills tend towards the literary arts, then you often recieve money when you publish an article. In the sciences it's the other way round. Also, they charge ridiculous prices for a subscription to the journal. What does this money go towards? The reviewers don't get paid. I'm pretty sure the associate editors aren't paid. Certainly not full time. The Editor is a full time job, but that's just one person. Not much of that money can be for printing, since most journals are mostly online these days. So, they have to pay for bandwidth, data storage, and an editorial staff. Why then, does my 18 page article with no color cost $1674 ? That money comes out of my grant, not my pocket, but still it seems ridiculous. Another oddity is that the price is the "suggested fee". We've got the option to haggle.
Time for the Colbert Report.
