Scholarly publishing and open access in the Nordic countries

Abstract:

"This study examines aspects of scholarly journal publishing in the Nordic countries. On average half of Nordic journals publish online. In most Nordic countries, commercial publishers predominate; however, in Finland the majority are society publishers. The number of open access journals is low, in line with international figures. There is concern to maintain local languages in journal publishing. A majority of the journals publishing in local languages are within social science, humanities, and arts; the STM sector publishes in English. English-language publications are favoured in research assessments, international recognition, and impact, while the visibility of local-language scholarly journals in international databases is low. The Nordbib program supports Nordic scholarly journals and fosters co-operation with publishing companies and learned societies over migration to e-publishing; it also supports open access. The article discusses future challenges for journal publishing, pointing out the problems of small journal publishers and the need for co-operation between stakeholders."