SCOAP3

Revised, February 26, 2008

What is SCOAP³ and what does it have to do with me?

SCOAP³ is the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (see http://www.scoap3.org for more info). It is a mechanism for a field of science (in this case Particle Physics) to pay for its own publishing costs, rather than make the readers of its journals pay via subscriptions. In the SCOAP³ model, everyone involved in producing the literature of particle physics (universities, labs, and funding agencies) pays into a consortium (SCOAP³) which then pays publishers so that all articles in the field are Open Access.
No particle physics journal will have a subscription cost, and everyone can read any article published.
You can redirect the money that you save on subscriptions to SCOAP³ to pay for Open Access for the entire literature of Particle Physics.
As a physics/science library you will be realizing the savings from the lack of subscription costs for the Particle Physics journals, so it is only natural that you would be a contributor to SCOAP³. Clearly the cost of Open Access will be similar to the cost of subscriptions, because there won't be any new money in the system. Without your redirected money, it won't work.

Then what good does it do me?

Instead of paying often spiraling costs for HEP journals that are no longer the primary mode of communication in the field, your costs will be lower, and stable, and you'll get for worldwide free and open access to peer reviewed literature from your institution. Because of the pricing model and the way of distributing the costs among countries, and institutions, it is likely that your contribution will be a bit less than the current cost of the subscriptions to these journals. In addition, particle physics journal pricing will be negotiated on a large scale contract by SCOAP³, so prices should remain much more stable in the future. Furthermore, the community as a whole will be fully aware of the negotiated prices for publishing in each journal, this can only increase the effect of market forces on journal pricing.

Who wants Open Access?

Open Access for Particle Physics is of interest to physicists. All of the LHC Collaborations (the largest experiments in HEP in the coming years) have agreed to publish only in Open Access journals. Open Access protects peer-review against a spiral of cancellations of high-quality HEP journals that are not read, simply because their content is mostly available on arXiv.org.
Open Access for Particle Physics is of interest to libraries, labs, and funding agencies. Open Access provides libraries (and their funding sources) stable, lower costs. Libraries in the U.S. that support SCOAP³ are listed on the SCOAP³ web page SCOAP³ In the US. Many European libraries, laboratories and funding agencies are already members of SCOAP³, such as CNRS, INFN, the Helmholtz Coalition, the Max Plank Society, CERN, the Swedish Royal library, and others listed here.
Open Access for Particle Physics is of interest to journals. They are just as interested in preserving peer-review in the sciences as the scientists are, since that is their primary product. HEP journals are not needed for communication among scientists, which mainly proceeds through arXiv, the only purpose for which HEP needs journals is peer-review, and the SCOAP³ model protects peer-review against a journal cancellation spiral that has not happened yet, but could be imminent.

Which journals are you talking about?

SCOAP³ will initially seek to work with 5 core HEP journals:

Phys Rev D (APS)
Phys Lett B (Elsevier)
Nucl Phys B (Elsevier)
JHEP (SISSA/IOP)
Eur Phys Jour C (Springer)

SCOAP³ will convert all of the content of these journals to OA, so there will be no subscription cost for any of them. In addition there are two journals that have partial HEP content (fractions determined by SPRIES data) that will become partially OA and have a partial reduction in subscription cost:

Phys Rev Lett (APS) 10%
Nucl Inst. Meth A (Elsevier) 25%

Other high-quality journals, new and established, will also be welcome to participate in the SCOAP³ model, and will provide choice and market competition.

But several of the journals you mention are part of a package deal for me! How do you know journals will break packages and fractionally reduce prices?

A condition for journals to receive a contract from SCOAP³ will be to reduce the price of their packages according to the fraction of articles/journals which will become Open Access.
Once SCOAP³ has enough expressions of interest, it will send a tender to journals to establish the price of the peer review service. This will be followed by a contract. These contracts will make explicit the un-bundling of these journals from existing package deals as well as the fractional reduction in prices for partially OA journals. If the publishers do not accept these conditions, no money changes hands and SCOAP³ does not go forward, so there is no risk of paying twice.

How are the costs going to be divided, what will I owe under this model, and who will I pay?

The division of costs among countries is handled on the basis of the number of papers contributed to the journals by authors from different countries. Allowances are made for third-world countries that are not able to pay. Thus the US contribution is about 25% of the total. Within each country the funding model must be adjusted to best match that country's library and physics funding structure.
Within the US, we will find several large library consortia that will initially be able to redirect their existing subscription costs to the SCOAP³ organization. This should be enough to supply the initial US contribution. Once enough interest is established to proceed with a tender to the journals, smaller institutions may join the model through a variety of different ways. If your library is in a consortium deal, talk with your fellow consortium members and the consortium administrator about your wish to join SCOAP³

But I am not purchasing (all/some) of these journal through a consortium, what should I do?

Libraries which are not (entirely) part of a consortium can join SCOAP³ individually. Work out how much you are paying now for those title and get organized to redirect this money to SCOAP³. Get in touch with us to signify your interest in joining SCOAP³ (see below)

But then, what can I do now?

Right now we are asking libraries to do 3 things:

Talk to any consortia through which you obtain HEP journals, and tell them you want them to sign on to SCOAP³ Through consortia we can reach a large fraction of the US contribution very soon, and thence make SCOAP³ and Open Access happen much earlier than you might think. See who is already on board
If there are some (all?) of those subscriptions which you do not purchase through consortia, then join SCOAP³! Get in touch with us, we will discuss a draft of a document to sign, an Expression of Interest to re-direct your subscriptions once SCOAP³ will happen. If SCOAP³ does not happen, you will not have to pay anything. This is just for us to understand how much support we have collected so far.
Get involved in doing advocacy for SCOAP³!

What happens later?

Once SCOAP³ has received pledges like yours covering an appreciable fraction of the necessary funding, a tender will be sent to journals and SCOAP³ will come back with a Memorandum of Understanding for the various partners around the world, which implies the real financial commitments. Unless your library is a major contributor, it is unlikely you will need to worry a lot about these documents, we will find ways to make this effortless for you.

Are the journals really going to do this? Why would they?

SCOAP³ has been talking with publishers from the outset and most of them are expected to participate provided stable funds are committed. Additionally, this doesn't matter one way or another at the moment, since we are only asking you to publicly signify your willingness to support SCOAP³, and if the publishers don't agree to the terms laid out in the tender, no money will change hands.

How do I know everyone is paying? I don't want to pay for other libraries' subscription costs.

You will be paying the same or less as you currently pay and getting the same journals. In addition you'll be supporting worldwide Open Access. Does it matter whether others are doing the same? You get more for less.