Rebellious Editor Questions Costs of Journal System From: University Currents Date: April 26, 2000 Story and photo by: Dawn Fuller Phone: (513) 556-1823 Photo By: Dawn Fuller Archive: Campus News Michael Rosenzweig calls himself "the Moses of the academic publishing industry" and his UC audience may have seen a resemblance with his medium-length curly silver hair, beard and walking staff. Rosenzweig's lecture at UC on April 11 offered his commandments for researchers, a code of ethics to force competition and fair prices in academic publishing. Rosenzweig, zoology professor at the University of Arizona, is founder and editor of the journal, Evolutionary Ecology Research. His lecture in the auditorium of the Engineering Research Center explained how he and his staff quit their jobs, "put our sandals on our feet and set out for the Sea of Red Ink" in protest of the skyrocketing prices of scholarly publishing. "The code of behavior and academic's guide to publishing ethics are the answer to our problems. The question is: How can we prevent the world of knowledge from being kidnaped and held for ransom?" he says. Strong words, but many believe publishers' profits are coming at the expense of academic libraries. "At first, publishers were convenient for us to provide distribution and printing, but they have turned into an impediment," explained David Kohl, dean and university librarian, University Libraries. "Now, libraries are paying more and getting less, meaning there's less free flow of ideas, discussion and reporting of new discoveries. It's time to take back control." Rosenzweig quoted a budget study out of the University of Kansas, which found library budgets would have to be six times larger today to match every dollar they spent in 1986. "There's a domino effect here," continued Rosenzweig. "Canceling journal subscriptions is serious business, so a lot of the cancellations come in book buying. Seventy-five percent of libraries are doing without and the problem is exacerbated in Third World countries . . . . In my view, publishers are ignoring their duty to disseminate knowledge as widely as they can." Rosenzweig blames a small group of publishers he calls "profit-maximizers" and says they're making money for doing relatively nothing, with all of the work coming from the sweat of the scholar's brow. After suffering through a hostile takeover of a journal he created, Rosenzweig started another journal that found assistance through the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), of which UC is a founding member. SPARC is a network of the Association of Research Libraries that supports the newer, less expensive journals competing with higher-priced rivals.