A preliminary version of our MDPI APC longitudinal study is now available: https://sustainingknowledgecommons.org/2016/07/29/mdpi-apc-fdp-2011-2016/
In brief MDPI is a new commercial publisher committed to the APC model, with a not uncommon approach of free publication for new journals. Thanks to Solomon and Björk, we have APC data for 25 journals for both 2011 and 2016. The average APC for this group of journals increased from 624 CHF in 2011 to 1,148 CHF in 2016, an average increase of 524 CHF or an 84% price increase in contrast to a compound U.S. inflation rate during this time frame of 8.7% (EU would have been lower). From 2014 to 2015, MDPI journals either stayed at the same APC or lowered their price. From 2015 to 2016, all journals either stayed the same in price or increased in price, with the average increase 18% or 60 CHF. As of March 2016, MDPI listed 155 journals on their website. Of these, almost half (72) are <<free>>. The average APC is 359 CHF (662 CHF when non-charging journals are excluded). This small case study illustrates the importance for APC payers to take this model into account to predict future budget needs. MDPI’s overall average APC today is a fraction of the average charged for a sample of established journals. Note that for purposes of the Sustaining the Knowledge Commons project, APC journals that are <<free for now>> are categorized as APC journals with APC of $0, to avoid confusion with journals that are not committed to the APC approach. Thanks to Tanoh Laurent Kakou for data analysis. best, -- Dr. Heather Morrison Assistant Professor École des sciences de l'information / School of Information Studies University of Ottawa http://www.sis.uottawa.ca/faculty/hmorrison.html Sustaining the Knowledge Commons http://sustainingknowledgecommons.org/ heather.morri...@uottawa.ca _______________________________________________ GOAL mailing list GOAL@eprints.org http://mailman.ecs.soton.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/goal
