by P.D. Lesko

I WANT TO have lunch with Manfredi La Manna. Anyone who can price a journal subscription at $700 and come out looking like the guy in the white hat is someone I'd love to meet. That's right, Dr. La Manna, founder of the Electronic Society for Social Scientists (ELSSS), was recently quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education as saying that his economics journal, the Review of Banking & Finance, would be priced at $700 per year. A similar journal, the Journal of Monetary Economics, published by a competing company, costs an institution $1,154. At $700 per year, Dr. La Manna's publication would appear to be a bargain.

I also feel compelled to mention that Dr. La Manna intends to pay contributors $500 per piece and pay article referees as well. What we have here, on the surface, are the trappings of an academic journal publishing coup d'etat. Granted, Dr. La Manna's pay rates may be a bit anemic in the face of a $700 subscription price. However, the discipline of economics is awash in professional refereed journals that pay contributors and article referees nothing. How is Dr. La Manna able to produce a quality journal at half the price of his competitor? Put simply, he is cutting profit margins and hoping that his business model (i.e. cheaper subscription prices and compensation for contributors and referees) will attract institutional subscribers, contributors and referees.

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