The Committee's final report recommends that ESA e-publish American Entomologist and that it take immediate action to "investigate and test an electronic reprint service." It also notes, in a discussion of free access vs. pay-for-use that "the majority view on this Committee is that free-journal-articles on the Internet is the preferred approach for ESA to take." [There was one dissenter.]

In December 1995, in Las Vegas, the Governing Board approves all the Committee's recommendations.

1996
ESA President Manya Stoetzel, when prompted in July on a lack of action on e-reprints, creates the Electronic Publication Implementation Committee (EPIC) by assigning the responsibilities of the defunct Electronic Publication Committee to the already formed WWW Committee. Members are Ray Everngam, David Hogg, Bill Hutchison, Carl Jones, Gary Noonan, Sonny Ramaswamy, and John Lloyd, Chair.

In its 1 Nov. 1996 report to the Governing Board, EPIC recommends that ESA (1) provide additional administrative and technical support for e-publication, (2) begin the conversion of its traditional journals to electronic format, and (3) start a new all-electronic journal, Entomological Techniques, to gain experience in e-publication. EPIC makes no recommendation as to the sale of electronic reprints.

To resurrect interest in electronic reprints, Tom Walker asks that they be on the agenda of the Louisville meeting of the Publications Council.

In December 1996 (Louisville meeting), the Publications Council votes 7 to 0 to recommend e-reprints to the Governing Board. By a vote of 7 to 6, the Governing Board approves selling electronic reprints and specifies that their costs be "commensurate with current hard copy charges."

At Tom Walker's request, the Governing Board addresses whether to allow authors to post copies of their articles on the Web. They approve a policy of "permitting authors to post retrospective electronic reprints of articles published in ESA journals more than 5 years old, provided they include a statement prohibiting further commercial use of the article." That policy, as it now appears on ESA's Web site is:

1997
John Lloyd, in setting up EPIC workgroups, makes Tom Walker the coordinator of an e-reprint workgroup, with Ray Everngam and John Lloyd as its other members.

Announcement of e-reprints is scheduled for the June Newsletter but is postponed to allow the Governing Board to address their concerns about e-reprints. These concerns prove to be that e-reprints are supposed to be permanent and infinite.

At its June 1997 meeting the Governing Board votes to restrict access to ESA's "electronic reprints" to the number of downloads (=clicks on the link or "hits") the author pays for and to set the price per 100 hits the same as the price per 100 paper reprints. The policy, as it appeared on ESA's Web site as recently as October 1999, was that:

In October 1997, ESA President Doug Dahlman names D. A. Nordlund as Editor of Entomological Techniques and appoints six individuals to serve on its Editorial Board.

In July 1997 and subsequently, Tom Walker asks EPIC to support a proposal similar to what is in his current petition. EPIC eventually identifies the Publications Council as a more appropriate venue. In December (at the Nashville meeting), Tom Walker presents the proposal to the Publications Council, which forwards it to the Governing Board.

In December 1997 (Nashville meeting), the Governing Board passes the following motions relative to e-publication of ESA's traditional journals:

On the evening of 15 Dec (Nashville meeting), an Electronic Publications Forum is held. Its purposes are to (1) develop a common understanding of what electronic publication is and how it relates to the ESA and (2) to identify key issues relating to electronic publishing that must be addressed if the ESA is to take full advantage of this new technology. Members of the Governing Board, EPIC, Publications Council, and Committee on Finance attend. Most of the meeting is a presentation by Cadmus Publishing on their system of e-publication with restricted access. There remains no time for open discussion. Tom Walker passes out preprints of "The future of scientific journals: Free access or pay per view?" and copies of his proposal on how to fund delayed free access to all articles.

1998
In January, ESA announces electronic reprints in a news item on its Web-site.

In February 1998, President George Kennedy appoints a Strategic Publication Review Committee (SPRC) with these members: Michael Chippendale, Ray Everngam, Leon Higley, David Hogg, Catherine Tauber, John Trumble, and Alan Cameron, Chair. The general charge to the committee is to "Undertake a review of the entire journal publications enterprise of ESA and formulate a business plan to guide the transition to electronic publication of our scientific journals. The plan should take into account the financial limitations of the ESA and the information requirements of our members and the scientific community."

In April 1998, Tom Walker sends each member of SPRC a letter that includes a preprint of "The future of scientific journals: free access or pay per view?", four enclosures dealing with the impact of free access, and the URL of a Web site that links to Web-published material that is relevant to e-publication of traditional journals.

In the April 1998 ESA Newsletter, President Kennedy writes of the challenges that e-publication presents the Society. Included is an announcement that Arthropod Management Tests will be published electronically and that ESA will soon initiate "a new all-electronic publication, Entomological Techniques."

At its June meeting, the Governing Board passes the following motions relative to e-publication of its traditional journals:

The 1998 issue of Arthropod Management Tests is published electronically and made available on ESA Web site at no charge.

On 15 Oct. 1998, ESA enters into a contract with Cadmus Journal Services to have ESA's four principal journals on line for demonstration, testing, and evaluation for key individuals during January and February 1999 [from SPRC's 7 Nov. 1998 report to the Governing Board].  The price of putting the journals online, with restricted access, is set at ca. $55,000 per year, or ca. $14 per page.

In November 1998, in its report to the Governing Board, SPRC makes no mention of changing the terms of ESA's PDF reprints or of delayed free access to all articles.

In November (Las Vegas meeting), the Governing Board passes the following motions relative to e-publication of ESA's traditional journals:

By 1 Dec, more than 100 ESA members sign the petition.

At its December meeting, the Governing Board approves these motions relative to e-publication of ESA journals:

On 28 Dec, ESA President Sharron Quisenberry  appoints a Publications Enterprise Committee consisting of George Kennedy (chair), Leon Highley, and Tom Walker.  The charge is to "conduct a thorough financial and efficiency analysis of the Society's publication enterprise and to bring forward a series of recommendations to improve the financial health and operational efficiency of the publications enterprise."

During 1999 ESA sells download-limited PDF reprints to authors of 5% of the articles published in its four principal journals (32/618).

2000
In January, ESA begins to offer unlimited PDF reprints for 75% of the price of 100 paper reprints.

In April, the Publications Enterprise Committee meets and recommends to the Governing Board a number of changes in the production, sale, and distribution of ESA journals and journal articles.

In June, the Governing Board votes to (1) provide free online access to ESA journals to all members starting in January 2001, (2) institute a web-based manuscript tracking system for the journals, (3) continue to produce and sell paper reprints and subscriptions to print journals for as long as there is a demand and ESA can recover the costs of doing so, (4) to cover the fixed production costs of each journal, increase subscription rates for institutions 10 percent annually for the next two years with the rates being the same for online and print journal subscriptions (the price of both types of subscription to the same journal will be 150 percent of the price of one), (5) adopt a policy to raise institutional subscription rates annually to cover increased production costs plus the cost of fulfilling subscriptions, (6) adopt a business model for ESA journals that provides authors with the opportunity to purchase immediate free web access (IFWA) to their articles as PDF reprints for an additional fee that is adjusted upward to preserve net revenues as the number of subscriptions decline, (7) investigate the advantages of affiliating with BioOne and other online journal aggregations to expand the opportunities to include, in ESA-published articles, links to articles published in non-ESA journals and to enhance the marketing of ESA's online journals, (8) adopt a policy to provide as quickly as fiscally feasible unlimited, free online access to back issues of journals two years old and older (as a pilot project, the 1998 issues of the Journal of Medical Entomology will be posted on PubMed Central), (9) investigate increasing the array of value-added features of ESA's online journals, such as sound, video, and expanded linking, (10) provided that a market analysis is favorable, offer for sale year-end CD-ROMs containing the year's issues of ESA journals, (11) explore the opportunities for selling back-issues of ESA journals on CD-ROM, (12) provided that a market analysis is favorable, publish Arthropod Management Tests on CD-ROM that will be searchable by crop, pest, technique, and compound, and (13) review ESA's policy on advertising online and in print to expand advertising opportunities.

In October, the ESA Governing Board votes to be part of BioOne, an electronic aggregation of research journals to be launched early in 2001.

During the first 6 months of 2000, ESA sells unlimited PDF reprints (=IFWA) to authors of 17% of the articles published in its four principal journals (69/405). During the last 6 months of 2000, ESA sells unlimited PDF reprints (=IFWA) to authors of 35% of the articles published in its four principal journals (120/343).

During all of 2000, ESA sells unlimited PDF reprints (=IFWA) to authors of 25% of the articles published in its four principal journals (189/748).

During 2000, ESA netted about $16,945 from sales of IFWA.

2001

Member access to the e-versions of all articles in ESA's four principal journals begins. In March, ESA begins e-mailing to members the table of contents of each journal issue as it is posted.

The four principal ESA journals appear in the inaugural version of BioOne, with the 2000 issues being the earliest ones posted.

During 2001, ESA sells IFWA to authors of 51% of the articles published in its four principal journals (328/639).

During 2001, ESA netted about $28,869 from sales of IFWA.

2002

Tom Walker discovers that ESA has not advertised any benefit of purchasing PDF reprints beyond PDF files of the articles being made freely accessible on ESA's Web server. Therefore, he alters what he says about the service in an ALPSP seminar talk on the future of journals and prepares an agenda brief (with a detailed explanation) for the 11 July meeting of the Governing Board. The principal motions proposed in the brief are--

(1) Authors who purchase IFWA [immediate free Web access] are allowed to post the PDF files of their IFWA articles on any Web server.

(2) IFWA articles may be freely copied, without limits, for noncommercial purposes.

(3) ESA will make IFWA articles accessible on a server that complies with the Open Archives Initiative, provided that posting the articles on the server involves no continuing charges.

(4) Staff will encourage literature-indexing services, such as Institute of Scientific Information, to make hotlinks to the full text of IFWA articles.

The minutes of the meeting give this account of Board's disposal of the brief: "It was the sense of the Governing Board to hold off on action on this and let the staff come forward in November with specific procedures related to issues mentioned in the agenda brief. For those items not requiring action, Kahan will clarify the policy in the guidelines to authors, author agreements and on the web site."

During 2002, ESA sells IFWA to authors of 55% of the articles published in its four principal journals (326/594).

During 2002, ESA netted about $30,545 from sales of IFWA.

During 2002, ESA received $47,317 from participating in BioOne.

2003
In the April ESA Newsletter, ESA tells its members for the first time that authors who purchase IFWA may obtain the PDF files of their articles from the ESA server, post them to their web page and other publicly accessible servers, and send them to colleagues as e-mail attachments.

In April, the Governing Board approves changing the name of ESA's IFWA (immediate-free-web-access) service from "PDF reprints" to "open access reprints."

In the June ESA Newsletter, the change to "open access reprints" is announced and the benefits of open access are once more described. The content of the ESA web site is modified to incorporate this change and to describe the advantages of buying open access.

During 2003, ESA sells open access to authors of 62% of the articles published in its four principal journals (414/669).

During 2003, ESA netted about $53,297 from sales of open access.

During 2003, ESA earned $57,696 from participating in BioOne.

2004

At its June meeting, the Governing Board "concluded that a review of and strategic planning for the ESA's publication enterprise should be charged to the Publications Council."

In early August, Tom Walker sends email to Publication Council members encouraging them to recommend to the Governing Board that articles published in ESA journals since 1999 be made freely accessible on the Internet two years after publication. In early November, he sends a follow-up email.

During 2004, ESA sells open access to authors of 67% of the articles published in its four principal journals (550/818).

During 2004, ESA netted about $74,072 from sales of open access.

During 2004, ESA earned $??,??? from participating in BioOne.

2005

In early February, Tom Walker learns that the Pubs Council has approved ESA staff's recommendation as to what Pubs Council should recommend to the Governing Board relative to making back issues of ESA journals freely web accessible after 24 months. The recommendation was that ESA not make back issues freely accessible because of the significant loss of revenue that such a practice would cause. Tom Walker then asks ESA Director of Communications Alan Kahan if he (Alan) might ask the Pubs Council to consider the matter further if Tom submitted an estimate of the amount of revenue that would be loss and a means by which that loss might be recovered. Alan approves the idea and helps Tom greatly by supplying needed data and constructively criticizing early versions of Tom's "A Three-Part Proposal Regarding Web Access To Back Issues." Tom sends the final version of that document to Alan on 18 Feb 2005 for submission to the Pubs Council.

Appendices

Brief history of ESA's sales of Open Access (1995-2003)

Additional details of the events of each year can be accessed by clicking on the year that heads each section below. For the events of 2004 and later, jump to History of e-publication of ESA's traditional journals.

1995
A committee appointed by ESA's president recommends that ESA try selling "electronic reprints" to authors. ESA's Governing Board approves the recommendation at its December meeting.

1996
No action taken until the issue is resurrected at the December Governing Board meeting. The Board narrowly approves offering e-reprints.

1997
At its June meeting, ESA's Governing Board votes to limit e-reprints to a paid-for number of downloads, instead of allowing unlimited downloads as envisioned in the proposals approved in 1995 and 1996. Authors are to pay the same for 100 downloads of their articles as for 100 paper reprints.

In November, sales of download-limited electronic reprints begin.

1998
During 1998 ESA sells download-limited e-reprints to authors of 8% of the articles published in its four principal journals.

1999
At its June meeting, ESA's Governing Board votes to allow unlimited downloads of e-reprints and to sell them at a reduced price. Implementation will be delayed until a new pricing structure for all reprints is approved.

At its December meeting, the Board sets the price of unlimited downloads of "PDF reprints" at 75% of the price of 100 paper reprints. Selling unlimited PDF reprints to authors allows permanent, toll-free Web access to articles beginning as soon as the articles are traditionally published. In fewer words, it allows "immediate free Web access" or "IFWA". [In 2003, "IFWA" was retired and replaced by "Open Access".]

During 1999, ESA sells download-limited e-reprints to authors of 5% of the articles published in its four principal journals.

2000
In January, sales of IFWA begin.

During 2000, ESA sells IFWA to authors of 25% of the articles published in its four principal journals.

2001
During 2001, ESA sells IFWA to authors of 51% of the articles published in its four principal journals.

2002
In October, ESA begins to advertise to its authors that purchase of IFWA has benefits in addition to the PDF files of their articles being posted on ESA's server with open access.

During 2002, ESA sells IFWA to authors of 55% of the articles published in its four principal journals.

2003
In April, ESA tell its members (for the first time) that ESA authors who purchase "PDF reprints" receive benefits in addition to the PDF files of their articles being posted on ESA's server with open access.

In June, ESA announces to its members that "PDF reprints" have been renamed "open access reprints", and once more describes the benefits of open access to the authors who purchase it.
During 2003, ESA sells IFWA to authors of 62% of the articles published in its four principal journals.

Early efforts to have ESA sell unlimited electronic reprints

BioScience opinion piece
Electronic reprints-Segueing into electronic publication of biological journals. BioScience 45: 171. (March 1996)

Electronic reprints   Essay on e-reprints, including definitions of two types of e-reprints and information on their fiscal impact.
    Original version, 10 Dec. 1996.
    Updated version, 9 June 1997.
    Amendment, 24 June 1998.

Request for proposal
ESA EPIC workgroup requests proposal from Florida Center for Library Automation for posting e-reprints. (18 April 1997)

Offer to post ESA e-reprints
The Florida Center for Library Automation offers to post ESA e-reprints indefinitely for a one-time fee of $1 or less per page. (17 June 1997)

Concerns about selling e-reprints
Four concerns of ESA's Governing Board, and its e-pub committee's response. (EPIC, 12 June 1997)

Problems with limiting access to e-reprints
Response to ESA Governing Board voting on 20-22 June 1997 to charge authors per download of their e-reprints from WWW. (21 July 1997)

PDF vs. HTML
A response to the question of what format users of e-reprints would prefer. (25 August 1997)

How a society can give free access to all its journal articles
Revenue from sale of e-reprints can easily pay for putting all articles on WWW 1-3 years after publication. (24 July 1997)

Impact of e-reprints on subscriptions
Comparison of subscription trends in four ESA journals with Florida Entomologist (e-reprints for all articles included with page charges since 1994). (3 Aug. 1998)