Authors pay article processing charges for open access journals, while readers can access articles. With the development of open access, the expenditures of article processing charges are increasing. It becomes a burden for scientists, especially in developing countries. Since it is a market competition, most publishers must charge article processing charges. However, the price of article processing charges should be reasonable. This study chooses 494 journals to analyze article processing charges, mainly in agricultural and biological sciences (miscellaneous), and closely related disciplines. The results show that since 2012, the total expenditure of article processing charges for open access journals in agriculture and biology has been increasing. The total expenditure of article processing charges in engineering is the highest. In the paper, an analysis is conducted on the concentration trend of article processing charges (APCs) for open access journals, including the mean, median, mode, skewness, kurtosis, and other relevant measures. Factors influencing the average APC of open access journals are also examined. Finally, a three-stage least squares (3SLS) approach is employed to study a model for determining reasonable pricing. The findings provide confidence in the future of APC pricing in quantitative research.
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