Ted Bergstrom's Homepage

Ted Bergstrom
Department of Economics
University of California Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9210
tedb@econ.ucsb.edu
(805) 893-3744   FAX (805) 893-8830

I am the occupant of the Aaron and Cherie Raznick Chair of  Economics
in the Economics Department
at the University of California Santa Barbara.

So Cal Theory Conference

The second annual Southern California Economic Theory Conference will meet at Santa Barbara this spring on March 3-5. Click here for details.

Journal Pricing and Journal Refereeing

A Lysistratan Scheme

Lysistrata:  "Ah, but those are the very sheet-anchors of our salvation--those yellow tunics,   those scents and slippers, those cosmetics and transparent robes."    Aristophanes

Every year, I am asked to referee many more journal articles than I have time to handle adequately.   University libraries complain that the rapid escalation of journal prices and the proliferation of new journals makes it impossible for them to maintain adequate collections of  books and journals within their budgets.  (The  SPARC website.maintained by the Association of Research Libraries is a  useful source of information about journal pricing for science, technology, and medical journals.)

I just don't see why I  should supply free refereeing services to those publishers that use monopoly pricing to gouge our university budgets.  I have made a new millenial resolution to stop refereeing papers  for journals that charge library subscription rates greater than $1000 and to exercise preference for journals that charge less than $300.  I do feel a professional obligation to review papers, but I can perform this obligation just as well by doing my refereeing for journals that are not exploiting university libraries.

Here is a list of library subscription prices for a large selection of  economics journals  and here is a rogues' gallery of journals that cost libraries more than $1000 per year.  Bob Parks has prepared
a nice display of this information in alternate formats  along with some interesting links related to
library pricing.

My new  policy leaves plenty  of options: for example,  the new Journal of Public Economic Theory ($240 per year to libraries) or the AER, ($142 per year),  Econometrica ($178),  the Canadian Journal ($120),  or  the Journal of Political Economy ($159).    On the other hand, I will not be refereeing for the Journal of Public Economics ($1431), Economic Letters ($1492) or Public Choice ($1000 per year).

It seems to me that the publishers that overprice their journals would  be up a creek if they lost the good will of the referees who provide them with free refereeing.  The gougers have lost mine,  at least until they cut their prices.

I hope that many other scholars  will take a similar view and will tell the editors and publishers of the overpriced journals about it.

Some more links:
A breakaway journal in biology   The editor of the high-priced journal, Evolutionary Ecology,  jumps ship and starts the low-priced Evolutionary Ecology Research.

Journal pricing in mathematics  A mathematician presents data on costs of journal production and
proposes abstinence from refereeing high-priced journals.
 

Courses

My Principles Textbook (with John Miller)

From My Desk Drawer

Economics Web Sites

        Economics Labs

        Websites for books on Economics

Other Disciplines

Other material

Ordering from on-line sources---Varsity Books, Buyer Beware!

A student messaged me about his unfortunate experience in ordering from varsitybooks, an online bookseller that has been advertising aggressively.  They sent him the old edition.  When he called them to tell them they sent him the wrong book, they refused to pay shipping and delivery for him to return the wrong book.    I will give you an update on this student's experiences..  In the meantime, there is a lot to be said for dealing with your reliable and well-informed  local bookstores.

Click here for an update on this student's experience with varsity books.