What mass departure income of methodical publication

It was one of those exiting designed to make a statement.

Last week, all six editors and all 31 editorial board members resigned from Lingua, a prominent linguistics journal, after a disagreement with the magazine's publisher, Elsevier. The announcement of the new momentum to concerns about the relationship between academia and non-profit companies, and the future of scientific publishing.

[This is an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, which results in the publication of higher education in America. It is presented here by agreement with the University World News.]

Lingua editors were worried that some libraries can no longer afford the cost of publication. In "renegotiation" letter sent to Elsevier in early October, citing "changing the academic publishing paradigm," he sets a series of conditions. At the top of the list: Lingua will be fully open access publication and Elsevier will provide property editors.

Elsevier but rejected these proposals and plans to continue to publish under the new Lingua team.

Lingua is a hybrid open access journal. Authors have the option to pay $ 1,800 for the publication of the US to its members free access or free readers. Editors of the magazine wanted to make all articles freely available to reduce the fee for the publication of around US $ 430 and let authors retain copyright of their members.

Elsevier responded in a statement on Wednesday. "If we had open access journal and only a suggested price point, this would make the magazine no longer viable," said the statement signed by Tom Ruler, head of global corporate relations of the company.

As for the suggestion that Elsevier forward Lingua its editors and allow them to move the magazine in a new publisher after six months' notice, Ruler wrote: "Elsevier can not agree to this as we have invested considerable time and money other resources which makes it respectable journal in its field. We Lingua founded 66 years ago. "

But Johan Orrick, executive editor Lingua, said the magazine is published by a company called North Holland and that purchased the magazine Elsevier in 1990.

Editors who agreed to stay in Lingua to December, plan to start their own journal, a move they see as part of a broader shift towards open access publishing.