One Nation, One Subscription
Don’t get me wrong, I welcome the move by the government to negotiate a deal for all researchers and take a bold step in leveling the playing field on resources. The move is transformative and will have immediate positive effects on the overall access to research within India.
Traditionally it has been the creamy layer of institutions that has had access to funding and hence access to better resources. This has been a vicious cycle where lack of funding denies access; denying access limits research which in turn leads to poor funding. So, Kudos to the Principal Scientific Advisor and Kudos to the Government on this fantastic initiative.
From all that has been said, all that has been written and from all that I have read, I have yet to see any comments on the fate of Indian Journal Publishing. Here is what I think is going to happen.
The first casualty in the implementation of the ONOS scheme is going to be the sales team of every known journal publisher; I believe the government has identified 70 publishers. I have seen the list and roughly 60% are publishers for profit. By its definition ONOS is going to negotiate a single rate with a publisher for access to all of India (I am assuming all Universities and Colleges; I remain unclear on how the common man will get access).
What this means for a publisher is that there is no opportunity to upsell, or cross-sell to this market segment. Hence, I foresee mass redundancies in sales teams among private sector publishing houses.
The second major casualty is going to be the researcher who wants to publish articles. The problem starts with what is termed as “Indian Research”.
There are two types of Indian research
- Research that has an impact across political boundaries – especially in the field of medicine.
- Research that has its greatest impact on Indians and on India – cultural studies, gender diversity, agriculture, social economic etc. are some key subjects
Research that transcends political boundaries has historically had its problems; “quality” this illusive, undefined, unrecognized and unknown damsel is oft quoted as being the cause of rejection. I would add, observation bias, proximity bias, discrimination as some of the other key biases against researchers in India. Statistically, Clarivate suggests that just about 10% of India’s research is publishable and this is including that which is published in India.
Within the 10% just a small percentage of pure Indian related research finds the light of day.
Consider that in India, Journal publishing is classified as a periodical falling under the Press and Book Registration Act of 1867 and all its subsequent amendments. This has been the greatest deterrent in growing India’s journal publishing business, primarily in PRINT. And this was before ONOS! Some concessions have been made for purely ONLINE journals.
Fast forward to 2023 and imagine the situation room in a typical journals’ publishing house
· Revenue is capped – annual increments and price rises are a distant dream
· For about 5 years or more most publishers have a NO NEW LAUNCH JOURNALS from India policy in play
· Indian research in the global arena isn’t driving local (overseas local) subscription business,
· Globally universities stopped buying individual subscriptions; they now buy only bundled content. There is even a school of thought that too much of Asian content drives down the rating of the overall publishing plan hence lower bundled revenue.
Logically the challenges point in just one direction – scale down content whose international market is low or non-existent.
The other aspect to consider is that the only way publishers believe revenues will rise is through Open Access Publishing. This is easier said than done. A University of Ottawa study published in June 2021 suggests that over the previous 10 years the Article Processing Charge (APC) has moved from US$904 to US$ 1626! Consider this in INR at current rates the price has increased from INR 74,100 to INR 133,330. This is perhaps more than the monthly salary of the teaching staff of most universities in India (including the private ones). And this is the cost to publish ONE ARTICLE!
India is at an intersection from which it is difficult to predict the future. What is certain is that traditional subscription-based journals will no longer be attractive. As India’s research output increases the challenges to get published will only increase. MNC publishing houses are not in the mood to drop APC for India from their current levels; it’s just not good business sense from their point of view.
While we solve the problem of accessing research there is little or no conversation on solving the problems of publishing research.
Mission Vikramshila, the mission we have embarked on has been studying this problem for a few years now. The answers are formulating as India’s research sets itself up for a quantum leap.
Watch this space for solutions that continue to building an Atmanirbhar Bharat and the decade that belongs to it.