Journal of Algorithms Editorial Board Resigns

On December 31, 2003, the editorial board of the Journal of Algorithms has resigned en masse, to protest what they call price-gouging by Elsevier, the company that publishes the journal. During the past six years, the journal's annual subscription price had doubled, rising to $700, which is beyond the reach of many libraries and individual subscribers. On January 21, 2004, the board launched a new journal, Transactions on Algorithms, to be published by ACM, the leading professional society for computer scientists.

Back in October, the editor-in-chief, distinguished professor Donald Knuth, wrote an open letter to his board outlining his position and urging this resignation. Elsevier says they will find a new board and continue publishing the journal, but it's hard to imagine that anybody in the field will take it seriously anymore.

Posted by Tom on March 01, 2004