Springer's Open Choice program

Springer has launched Open Choice, a program to offer free online access by the article, at the author's choice. To exercise the option, authors or their funding agencies must pay a processing fee of $3,000 US, in addition to any page charges that may apply e.g. for color or extra length. Open-choice articles will receive the same peer review, production, and indexing, as non-open articles, and will appear in both the print and online editions of the journal. However, for Springer "open" only means no-fee access. Springer will hold the copyright and the only copying it will permit is for authors to put their own versions of the postprints in institutional repositories. Springer will decrease or increase its journal prices to match the amount of non-open content published in the previous year. If enough authors take advantage of Open Choice, then, subscription prices will go down. (Thanks to Klaus Graf.)