Study finds ‘staggering’ differences in article costs

Publishers caution against straightforward interpretation of findings

A study by the European University Association on deals between academic publishers and national consortia of research institutions has identified what the EUA described as “staggering differences in the prices per article under different agreements”.

Mean costs per article under 145 deals between consortia in 26 countries and five large publishers—the American Chemical Society, Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis and Wiley—were calculated to range from €1,509 for Taylor & Francis to €3,476 for Elsevier.