Oh thats a shame..........

[Welsh Andy]

Not sure if I've linked to this already but the Archaeopop blog had a really good article on the subject of academic publishing last year.
http://archaeopop.blogspot.com/2011/12/a...mbers.html

Like with so many other things that used to be public goods, academic knowledge (in the form of journal articles) has effectively been privatized in the last few decades. The ?big four? academic publishers have acquired rights to the articles you need to make it as a scholar, and have been jacking up prices steadily every year ? an average 8.5% increase between 1996 and 2004. For a reality check, see the Springer price list for 2012. Institutions pay an average of $2168/year for a Springer journal. For four issues! The humanities and social sciences are cheaper ? The Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, for instance, costs just $764. Anything to do with chemistry, mathematics, or medicine will set your library back $3250-6500. And what are the publishers? costs? Content is provided for free. Peer reviewers and editorial boards also work on the public dime to do quality control. You do need decent copy editors and some computers. (The posh office building in New York or London and multi-million dollar executive salaries, however, are perhaps not integral to scientific production).