"Author pays" publishing model: Not all authors will  gain

doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7405.53-a

BMJ 2003;327:53 (5 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7405.53-a

Letter

"Author pays" publishing model

Not all authors will gain

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The BMJ continues to advocate the "author pays"model, despite its potential to narrow the field of would-beauthors.¹ Given that most UK doctors are employed by the NHS,how likely is it that our employer will pay the costs of publication?Those who do not receive any funding from elsewhere will thereforehave to bear the cost themselves.

Although attitudes to the "author pays" system may be changing (I was told when a PhD student never to submit work to journalsthat levied a page charge) the proposals do not make financialsense. For the projected $500-1800 ($825-2970; €720-2580)I could pay for the publication of a medium sized book, orfor next to nothing I could post material on my own website—eitherway my work would be freely available.

The proposed system will benefit researchers at large and wellfunded institutions that will pay to publish . . . [Full text of this article]

Alan W Bates, consultant histopathologist and cytopathologist

Department of Morbid Anatomy, Royal London Hospital, London E1 1BB A.Bates@Bartsandthelondon.Nhs.Uk