learned societies and no-free OA: obstacles to flipping
Many learned societies use subscription journals to supplement their income, since apparently they cannot earn enough from membership fees to fund their desired activities. This means that flipping their journals to Fair Open Access, which is otherwise very well aligned with the mission of the societies, will be tricky, unless an extra subsidy can be found. It is hard to see why libraries (whom I see as the main providers of funding for Fair OA in the long term) should be interested in subsidizing these societies.
Does anyone have an idea how we might move forward on this issue? @dmitriz @reiner1 @MartinPaulEve @jrooryck @saskiadevries
Edited by Mark C. Wilson