Comment A physicist's $0.02 (Score 2, Informative) 208
I work at a national lab and am a physicist. As I have way too much stuff to do, I always look at articles in journals we have access to online first. If we don't have online access because it's too expensive, I have to drive across site to a library to dig it out (which is getting harder as libraries here are cutting back on paper journals), and I am doing this less and less. My colleagues are the same way.
What does this mean? The people publishing in these expensive journals are getting very few reads and citations, as people are having problems getting access, while articles in cheap journals get great access. The American Institute of Physics journals (PRL, PRB, RSI, RMP, etc.) are very reasonable, and EVERY library has access. So guess which journals people actually try to publish in now: the expensive journal no one reads or the cheap one everyone reads.
So, the cheap (society) journals are getting the great papers (with the exception of a few expensive journals such as Science and Nature), while the private journals get the rejects. Everyone in research knows you can ALWAYS find a private publisher to take your paper. The society journals are much harder, as they are not for-profit, and get plenty of submissions anyway.
People used to publish a lot in Physica and Nuclear Instruments and Methods, but NOT NOW! They are very expensive!
Anyway, I am not too worried myself, as the expensive private journals have already signed their death warrants, at least for physics.
What does this mean? The people publishing in these expensive journals are getting very few reads and citations, as people are having problems getting access, while articles in cheap journals get great access. The American Institute of Physics journals (PRL, PRB, RSI, RMP, etc.) are very reasonable, and EVERY library has access. So guess which journals people actually try to publish in now: the expensive journal no one reads or the cheap one everyone reads.
So, the cheap (society) journals are getting the great papers (with the exception of a few expensive journals such as Science and Nature), while the private journals get the rejects. Everyone in research knows you can ALWAYS find a private publisher to take your paper. The society journals are much harder, as they are not for-profit, and get plenty of submissions anyway.
People used to publish a lot in Physica and Nuclear Instruments and Methods, but NOT NOW! They are very expensive!
Anyway, I am not too worried myself, as the expensive private journals have already signed their death warrants, at least for physics.
