I’m sure I’m not the first person to be revolted by this:
Pay per Article – You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 1 day for US$23.00.
Twenty bucks for one day? I guess I better write faster! I just don’t see how this model of disseminating scholarship is fair or tenable. Rest assured Mr. Eggert doesn’t get a check every time someone pays for this article…
$23 for a day’s access? Setting aside the issue of fairness, I just don’t see how this can be a tenable model. Hmm…it looks like they only charge for access to the four most recent issues. I can download for free articles from the Nov. 2004 issue. I guess the thinking is that if you want the current scholarship, you might as well pay the $105 to join either Association for Literary & Linguistic Computing or the Association for Computers and the Humanities. Makes one not want to join, however…
I’d love to join these organizations, but I already spend $500+ a year on memberships (ACM, NCTE, MLA, STC, WPA).
My guess is the fault here lies more with OUP than with ACH and ALLC; they are likely the ones who set the terms of distribution for their journals.