Model still needs money

Harvey Goldstein outlines an open access model for journal publishing that he claims is neither green nor gold (“Try DIY, not green or gold”, Opinion, 1 May). But, like all journals, the model has to be funded somehow, as it is by a society. A fee for non-members, however modest, for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (which Goldstein co-edits), is still a fee.

The main aim of the article seemed to be to undermine publishers’ profits. The UK publishing industry employs more than 1 million people worldwide. Profits mean jobs. Moreover, the publishing industry worldwide has served us well with sustainable models for print and online publishing. I searched Longitudinal and Life Course Studies online at www.llcsjournal.org and got “Bad Gateway. The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.” I rest my case.

Roger Watson
Editor-in-chief, Journal of Advanced Nursing
Professor of nursing, University of Hull