Open source publishing systems can cost more than you think!
eLife recently published a blog post that detailed their platform’s running costs. You can take a look yourself, but I’ll spare you the trouble and summerise: it costs eLife about $1700 per month to run its Continuum platform.
That’s $1700 per month to run a system that is available free.
Now this is for eLife, a premier journal with the backing of major funders, publishing 120 articles per month and 500,000 visitors. A new journal launch probably won’t get close to this. However, according to eLife, even minimal hosting options for low traffic with less redundancy, will set you back about £145 per month (see their spreadsheet).
So what?
What’s important is to recognise that open source publishing isn’t free publishing. This is a common misconception and the costs can be a shock if you are not prepared. Costs detailed by eLife only apply to hosting, which isn’t even the whole story. Add in the man hours for system set up and maintenance, plus things like typesetting and copyediting, and costs rise further.
I really like open source systems and it can be a great resource. Systems built for the community, by the community that can be built upon are glorious. They help smaller players start their own publishing programmes and so should be encouraged, but they can be labour intensive to maintain.
Open source can work well for you and I’ll point you towards OJS, Continuum and Janeway as great examples if you want to investigate this route for your programme.
However, if not, we at Veruscript offer an alternative approach. We aren’t open source, preferring to maintain our own cloud-based infrastructure. Our automatic updates and full support keep your costs and hassle levels to a minimum.
Unlike open source software, you don’t need to download and install our system on a server or, indeed, apply updates and patches. Our cloud-based service does this heavy lifting for you.
Setting up a journal is easy using our WYSIWYG* control panel to build your website and assign editorial responsibilities. Once you’re done, voila, you’re good to start processing papers.
We reduce your stress levels in other ways too. We handle data storage, acting as your data processor. We take care of data security and help compliance with data protection requirements. Our team has been busy getting ready for GDPR next year, so by working with us you benefit from our experience.
You would need to store data yourself with an open source system, so would take on the inherent risks and rules. Can stay up-to-date with legislation? If you have a data breach will you know what to do? We help reduce your risk.
Back to costs. Open source may not be free, but if you just want PDFs and publish less than five articles per year, then we are!
Want to publish more? Our economics of scale mean we can provide a service at a much lower cost than even the $145 per month minimal hosting charge quoted in the eLife post. Plus, our cloud-based system gives you the functionality you need with none of the hassle.
Our platform also has excellent SEO. We provide ‘Google juice,’ making your content more findable.
Ultimately, the choice of open source or our cloud-based service is up to you.
But wouldn’t you rather have a hassle-free experience from a platform that you can leave at any time and easily port your data? Wouldn’t you rather have a system that grows with your needs and offers free publication options?
If so, email me at hello@veruscript.com.
Why not do it now, before you forget?
*What You See Is What You Get
