This is a really interesting story, not simply because it shows the weakness of established publishers today, but because the prospectus (426 page PDF) paints a clear picture of the market today. I was most interested in the list of risks (pp. S16-S18 and expanded in much greater detail after p. S54). Among them: declines in subscription renewals, open access publishing, and even the potential failure to attract editorial board members and editors. In an email Joseph Greene points to the statement that "Accordingly, revenues stemming from Article Publication Charges (APC) are in the short- to medium-term supplementary to the subscription business," and do not, therefore "simply reflect the cost of publishing." It also depicts (p.88) a $7 billion academic publishing market, with open access accounting for $344 million of that (pictured).
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