Nature Special:"The Future of Publishing"

The fact that NPG has published a special on "The Future of Publishing" shows that change is underway. The special gives a balanced view including M. Eisen's views (as reported by Van Noorden The True Cost of Science Publishing ) but naturally the message that they wish to convey is in the last (concluding) article in the series.

“As a young investigator you have to do what's economically viable,” says Stephen Macknik, a neuroscientist at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Paying an article-processing charge for a reputable open-access journal may be a good middle ground for young researchers, he says.
But scientists shouldn't sacrifice funding that was meant for research. “To maximize their competitiveness it is vital that young researchers maintain a productive profile of high-quality research, and this means using research funds to do as much high-quality research as possible,” says Chambers. “It falls to the more senior scientists to change the system.”

EDITORIAL

• Disciplinary action

  How scientists share and reuse information is driven by technology but shaped by discipline.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

NEWS

• Sham journals scam authors

  Con artists are stealing the identities of real journals to cheat scientists out of publishing fees.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

NEWS FEATURES

• The true cost of science publishing

  Cheap open-access journals raise questions about the value publishers add for their money.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

• The library reboot

  As scientific publishing moves to embrace open data, libraries and researchers are trying to keep up.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

• The dark side of publishing

  The explosion in open-access publishing has fuelled the rise of questionable operators.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

COMMENT

• Beyond the paper

  The journal and article are being superseded by algorithms that filter, rate and disseminate scholarship as it happens, argues Jason Priem.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

• A fool's errand

  Objections to the Creative Commons attribution licence are straw men raised by parties who want open access to be as closed as possible, warns John Wilbanks.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

• How to hasten open access

  Three advocates for a universally free scholarly literature give their prescriptions for the movement’s next push, from findability to translations.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

BOOKS AND ARTS

• Q&A: Knowledge liberator

  Robert Darnton heads the world's largest collection of academic publications, the Harvard University Library system. He is also a driver behind the new Digital Public Library of America. Ahead of its launch in April, he talks about Google, science journals and the open-access debate.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

CAREERS

• Open to possibilities

  Opting for open access means considering costs, journal prestige and career implications.

  Nature ( 28 March 2013 )

A Boycott for NPG journals?

NPG as in Nature Publishing Group for those not in the know, this includes the journal Nature. What might have sparked off this?
An impending price increase of 400% for journal subscription.

Michael Eisen, nailed it down it his blog post.
I totally agree with his view especially how he describes the situation as:
"Only one thing — short of outright insanity — can lead a company to think they can get away with this kind of behavior: a monopoly. And it is the monopolistic, and grossly unfair and irrational, business model that NPG and most other scientific publishers employ that should be the real target of any organized action from UC faculty."

Jonathan Eisen also has interesting things posted here

I think the price increase might be a good move to persuade researchers to use soft copies of journals instead of having to resorting to print. But as Michael rightly points out. It shouldn't be an issue of price. And price increase in this climate, I think NPG might be making a wrong move here.

What are your thoughts? Would you adhere to such a boycott if your department is against the idea?