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I've noticed that some of the journals I submit to, most of which are top tier, have optional costs. For instance, there is an optional page cost that I could pay even though my paper is not open access and is under the page limits. This cost is revealed upon acceptance.

I've always said no to pay it, but I wonder why the costs exist in the first place and if it's bad form to say no?

EDIT: I just realized how arrogant it sounds to say "most of which are top tier" :-P I meant "most of which are reputable journals that would not appear on Beal's list.

Michael Stachowsky
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    What exactly is this new cost for? –  Apr 19 '17 at 14:50
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    Could you clarify what you are being asked to pay for? – user2768 Apr 19 '17 at 14:50
  • For instance, here: https://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/submit_manuscript.html They are called "voluntary page charges", and you end up getting actual prints of the article if you pay them (which is silly nowadays) – Michael Stachowsky Apr 19 '17 at 14:52
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    I see no reason to pay publishers unnecessarily. They already make exorbitant profits, by exploiting free-labour (aka peer-review) and by seemingly immoral distribution channels, see http://thecostofknowledge.com/. – user2768 Apr 19 '17 at 15:57
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    @user2768: Many, but not all publishers, make exorbitant profits. If I had a paper accepted in an Elsevier journal (which I wouldn't, since I signed the boycott you linked to), and they asked me to pay an optional "voluntary page charge", then I'd enjoy a good laugh. But apparently IEEE is a nonprofit, so I think the request is worth considering. – Anonymous Apr 19 '17 at 17:09
  • @Anonymous, IEEE will charge a reader $33 to read an article that cost them nothing to produce. So, I'm against paying them too. (I appreciate that there is a cost associated with serving articles, but, in today's age, those costs are rapidly falling. We can haggle over whether IEEE edits the articles, which introduces a production cost.) – user2768 Apr 20 '17 at 08:18

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I'm not sure which discipline you are referring to, but I have published my articles in social and health science journals. Most journals offer options at a cost (optional Open Access, color reprints, etc.). If you do not want or need these options, there is no reason to feel that it is wrong to decline them. I have never paid these extra costs. Journals that are not strictly open access make their money from subscriptions, not from the authors. The additional costs are mainly to cover optional features that would make your article more costly to publish than other articles without these features. So, no worries!

Nicole Ruggiano
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