RESEARCH ARTICLE The pricing of open access journals: Diverse niches and sources of value in academic publishing Kyle Siler1 and Koen Frenken2 an open access journal 1Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex 2Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University Keywords: publishing, institutions, journals, science, pricing, open access Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/qss/article-pdf/1/1/28/1760872/qss_a_00016.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 ABSTRACT Citation: Siler, K., & Frenken, K. (2020). The pricing of open access journals: Diverse niches and sources of value in Open access (OA) publishing has created new academic and economic niches in contemporary academic publishing. Quantitative Science Studies, 1(1), 28–59. https:// science. OA journals offer numerous publication outlets with varying editorial philosophies doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00016 and business models. This article analyzes the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) DOI: (n = 12,127) to identify characteristics of OA academic journals related to the adoption of article https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00016 processing charge (APC)-based business models, as well as the price points of journals that Received: 13 May 2019 charge APCs. Journal impact factor (JIF), language, publisher mission, DOAJ Seal, economic Accepted: 21 October 2019 and geographic regions of publishers, peer review duration, and journal discipline are all significantly related to the adoption and pricing of journal APCs. Even after accounting for other Corresponding Author: Kyle Siler journal characteristics (prestige, discipline, publisher country), journals published by for-profit
[email protected] publishers charge the highest APCs. Journals with status endowments (JIF, DOAJ Seal) and articles Handling Editor: written in English, published in wealthier regions, and in medical or science-based disciplines Ludo Waltman are also relatively costlier.