The Costly Journals Index: An Importance for Future Research

Increased charging from publishers and access points to databases like Scopus, Web of Science, and even PubMed is bound to change the economic dynamics of information dissemination and its affordability. The Costly Journals Index (CJI) is introduced in the article as a method for determining the costs to authors and their institutions of publishing. It integrates quantitative and qualitative analysis of themes such as article processing, subscriptions, author payments, and university budgets worldwide. The study of these dimensions reveals inequities, academics’ participation and contributions, and/or shifts in the research’s focus. The author analyses the relationship between the cost of publishing research and its impact. The research showed that greater results are not tied to higher publishing costs. The author reviews the implications of such a study for future research, for research on academic publishing, for the CJI’s impact on open access, and for the effects of the Nepotism Index in academic discourse. It emphasises the need to balance equity and prestige and to regulate inequitable access while sustaining the heterogeneity, originality, and authenticity of the research. The primary objectives are to broaden access to research for all, not just the privileged, and to inspire more publishers to/adopt such a model.