The Financial Realities of Academic Publishing

The Financial Realities of Academic Publishing
I admit that when I read this headline this morning I feared I would discover another instance of questionable editorial practices, authorial misconduct or article retractions. That was not the case, however, as the article in the Sydney Morning Herald explains: http://bit.ly/1KYSPh1.

Stephen Leeder, editor of the Medical Journal of Australia, lost his job at the journal when he disagreed with the publisher’s decision to ‘outsource the journal’s production to Elsevier.’ Considered by doctors and colleagues ‘one of the most respected academics in Australian medicine,’ Leeder claimed that working with Elsevier exceeded the bounds of his ‘ethical tolerance,’ and it seems that the journal’s editorial advisory committee agreed – 19 of the committee’s 20 members resigned over the alliance with Elsevier. The journal’s deputy editor also resigned, refusing to take over Leeder’s position when the opportunity was offered. The article outlines a number of reasons for Elsevier’s poor reputation in Australia, including the publication of ‘fake medical journals,’ and also suggests that the journal’s publisher (a subsidiary of the Australian Medical Association) has a ‘track record in sacking editors.’

Editorial independence and ethical publishing are key issues for those involved, and Brian Owler, the president of the Australian Medical Association, has been appealed to for a review of the Elsevier appointment. The president has defended the journal’s move, however, explaining that production is being outsourced, not editorial content: Elsevier ‘will have no editorial role.’ The decision was clearly a financial one, with the Australian Medical Association no longer able to foot the publication bill, and the need for ‘operational efficiencies’ designed to ‘secure the financial future’ of the journal primary.

As Owler says, ‘publishing is a very difficult field at the present time,’ and academic and scientific journals are far from the exception. Unfortunately, there seem to be no easy solutions with which everyone can agree, and I suspect we may be seeing more situations like that at the Medical Journal of Australia in the near future.