Academic libraries could fund a fully open access journal system - and save money, too

The title expresses the gist of my article, Economics of scholarly communication in transition, published today in First Monday. Abstract Academic library budgets are the primary source of revenue for scholarly journal publishing. There is more than enough money in the budgets of academic libraries to fund a fully open access scholarly journal publishing system. Seeking efficiencies, such as a reasonable average cost per article, will be key to a successful transition. This article presents macro level economic data and analysis illustrating the key factors and potential for cost savings.