Information wants someone else to pay for it: Laws of information economics and scholarly publishing

Abstract

The increasing volume and complexity of research, scholarly publication, and research information puts an added strain on traditional methods of scholarly communication and evaluation. Information goods and networks are not standard market goods-and so we should not rely on markets alone to develop new forms of scholarly publishing. The affordances of digital information and networks create many opportunities to unbundle the functions of scholarly communication - the central challenge is to create a range of new forms of publication that effectively promote both market and collaborative ecosystems.