The Economists' Voice is a new on-line journal from the Berkeley Electronic Press that "seeks to publish innovative policy ideas or engaging commentary on the issues of the day." Its pieces will be "short, 600-2000 words, and intended to contain deeper analysis than is found on the Op-Ed page of the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, but to be of comparable general interest."

The substance is interesting -- an inaugural article is Judge Richard Posner on Eldred -- but so is the journal's pricing policy, which reflects the confusion now sweeping the world of academic literature.

According to the BEP website, The Economists' Voice is to be a paid-by-subscription publication: $50 for an individual; $300 for an institutional license. As with others in this family, BEP is trying to cut the price of access to scholarly publishing. The average economics journal costs $553.

However, BEP and the academicians who write for it for it are also in the intellectual influence business, and they want to encourage broad access. So, actually, anyone can access and download the articles for free. However, I am informed that Berkeley will note who is doing this and that one result will be an email from BEP to your institutional employer suggesting that it subscribe. The theory is that most accessors will be academicians and that university libraries and presses have a deep culture of reciprocity.

In addition, the BEP policy on IP has numerous exceptions designed to facilitate distribution. For The Economists' Voice, the BEP does not demand a copyright. It does demand a five-year exclusive license to publish the article in digital form. However, this exclusivity is riddled with "personal exceptions" which allow the author to post the piece to personal and institutional websites as long as these are non-commercial, so in fact BEP's ability to generate any future revenue from its digital exclusivity seems slight. The aware will simply go to the author's home page.

I confess to skepticism that BEP can generate the revenues necessary to fund the enterprise under these terms, but, as a federal judge once wrote about administrative law, "a month of experience is worth a year of hearings."

More deeply, I remain mystified as to why academics are so obsessed with having things be free; instead of an elaborate structure of moral suasion and differentiation according to educational worthiness, why not adopt a system of micropayments. Would I pay a buck to read Judge Posner's thoughts on Eldred? Absolutely. So charge me, and support the journal. Or, of course, an author or a sponsor of some sort could choose not to charge, thus encouraging the broadest possible dissemination. But it is risible to think that the structure of American academe, which spends billions on physical facilities, salaries, techie toys, etc., will topple if it must pay for IP.

posted by James DeLong @ 1:53 PM | General

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