Scientific publishing

1 October 2003

The Wellcome Trust has published a comprehensive analysis of the financial impact of the scientific publishing industry. The report, 'Economic Analysis of Scientific Research Publishing', provides an insight into an industry that generates some £22 billion annually.

Most research findings are published in journals, generally run either by commercial publishers or learned societies. Their traditional role has been to manage 'quality assurance' through peer review and distribution through printed journals. The growth of the web, however, has created new opportunities for the dissemination of scientific information, as evidenced by the release of genome sequence data directly into the public domain and the use of 'preprints' in some academic disciplines.

However, while scientific information is made available on the web, its use is restricted by the access policies of publishers, who normally require subscriptions to be taken out before users can retrieve full text. Across the world, journal subscriptions are a significant financial burden on institutional libraries and individual researchers, and present a major obstacle to the timely and comprehensive sharing and use of scientific information.

The report has been published to support constructive dialogue between key players in the scientific publishing field. The ultimate aim of this dialogue would be to develop a publishing system that meets the needs of all publishers, authors and academics, and best promotes the public good of scientific work - that is, disseminates research outputs to all who have an interest in them.

Scientific publishing

See also