Mattias Hanauske

This special issue of Economic Analysis and Policy is devoted to try and understand the academic publishing industry and in particular the recent move towards open access, as EAP has done in 2008. The various articles examine the motivations, the challenges and the roadblocks for authors, editors, publishers, libraries and readers. It also highlights some of the benefits of open access beyond the obvious increase in readership. Several examples from journal editors, content management providers and bibliographic data distributors are also provided.