Turbulence in the higher education publishing industry due to open access : a PESTEL analysis.

ABSTRACT: This paper explores the turbulence in the higher education publishing industry due to open access (OA) publishing by using the PESTEL model. The PESTEL model is chosen to gain insights in the changes in this industry. The political- and legal dimension pressure the industry to adopt OA by implementing laws. The economic dimension influences the adoption of OA due to different business models. The social dimension is adopting and resisting OA. Lastly technology enabled the industry to establish OA due to the internet. Next to this, the results of the research show that economic- social- and legal uncertainties are restraining the adoption of OA in higher education publishing industry. In the near future the focus of the higher education publishing industry should be on developing OA business models and agreements on copyright standards to ensure the further adoption of OA.