Research conducted at state universities is mostly financed with public money: As such, knowledge is a public good and should therefore also be publically accessible. Tradition dictates that research results are published in scientific journals, which are of vital importance for the career paths of researchers. However, even today, these journals are usually published by large publishing houses, whose respective business models prescribe the raising of revenues from public libraries and academic institutions. This is the case even though almost all of the articles that come to be published are penned by researchers who are largely publically funded. What is more, to a significant extent, the selection and peer review process applied to the articles is also conducted by researchers who receive publically funded salaries. In most instances, the performance of these duties – generally considered to be part of the scope of reputable academic activities – goes unpaid. Meanwhile, over the past few years, the trend towards “open access” has steadily gained pace: Conventional journal contributions are either “bought out” from authors’ contracts and published in a publically accessible manner (green road), or articles appear in journals established specifically for this purpose, which are committed to the provision of open access (gold road). The first batch of open access journals following the “gold road” is now beginning to emerge in the economic sciences, among them the recently initiated “Journal of Mechanism and Institution Design”.

Read more →