Good news for authors publishing in AMS journals: starting in April, there will be no extra charges for full-color figures. The change was announced at the Annual Meeting on Monday.
According to Director of Publications Ken Heideman, bringing these costs down to zero has been a major goal since 2005, when it was first proposed by Dave Jorgensen, the outgoing Publications Commissioner.
“We all thought that that was a nice fantasy,” joked Heideman, but he noted that since then the AMS has dropped the prices for color figures several times. “Now we’re using efficiencies and savings in other areas to help subsidize what is the final reduction to zero.”
In the past, several authors had suggested printing figures in black and white but having them in color online, referred to as divergence of content, which is not allowed by the AMS Publications Commission.
“Our print is exactly what is online, including color, and we’re proud of that,” said Heideman.
He also noted that lower overall costs could be a long-term investment in the organization.
“Having zero color charges for full-paying authors will increase submissions, and that’s a positive reinforcement cycle.”
[UPDATE 1/9/13: Note that the new charges apply to articles that are submitted after April 1.]