The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7215 p354
14 September 2002

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News summary

OFT fires warning shot across the bows of scientific publishers

The Office of Fair Trading is watching the scientific, technical and medical (STM) journals market, in which the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has an interest. STM publications of the Society include the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice and the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.

Main concerns of the OFT are price increases above inflation, substantial price disparities between commercial and non-commercial publications, high profitability in STM publishing (between 10 and 15 per cent higher than other forms of commercial journal publishing), and the bundling together of journal subscriptions by commercial publishers which might hinder others wishing to enter the market.

The OFT says that price restraint by commercial publishers, increased subscriber power stemming from the emergence of electronic publishing which bypasses commercial publishers, and the motivation of academics to publish in the most prestigious journals, but also where their articles are available to a wide audience, might address the problems without the need for regulatory intervention. If competition fails to improve, the OFT warns that it may consider further, possibly international, action.

The report can be downloaded from the OFT website