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Market power of publishers in setting article processing charges for open access journals

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  • Sumiko Asai

    (Meiji University)

Abstract

While open access journals provide readers with articles free of charge through the journals’ networks, authors are required to pay article processing charges to the publishers. This study simultaneously estimates the article processing charges for 535 open access journals independently launched by publishers along with citation scores and number of articles in a journal to identify the determinants of charges. The results show that open access journal publishers set higher article processing charges for more frequently cited journals with more articles. However, concentration measured by the share squared of the number of articles in an academic field is not shown to influence the charges significantly. Moreover, this study finds that large subscription journal publishers do not generally set higher article processing charges for their open access journals. Instead, they incorporate open access journal publishers that have already accomplished great achievements into their company groups. These findings suggest that large subscription journal publishers may influence the open access journal market through mergers and acquisitions of prominent open access journal publishers in the future, although they do not yet have market power.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:123:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03402-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-020-03402-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Abdelghani Maddi & Esther Lardreau & David Sapinho, 2021. "Open access in Europe: a national and regional comparison," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(4), pages 3131-3152, April.
    3. Lin Zhang & Yahui Wei & Ying Huang & Gunnar Sivertsen, 2022. "Should open access lead to closed research? The trends towards paying to perform research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(12), pages 7653-7679, December.
    4. György Csomós & Jenő Zsolt Farkas, 2023. "Understanding the increasing market share of the academic publisher “Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute” in the publication output of Central and Eastern European countries: a case study o," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(1), pages 803-824, January.
    5. 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.
    6. Abdelghani Maddi, 2021. "Game theory and scholarly publishing: premises for an agreement around open access," Papers 2106.13321, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2021.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Open access journal; Article processing charge; Market power;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

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