Spending on subscriptions to journals rises by up to 50%

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Going up: payments to 바카라사이트 main journal publishers by universities have soared

The amount of money paid by UK universities to subscribe to some large publishers¡¯ journals has risen by almost 50 per cent since 2010, new data suggest.

The finding is based on freelance requests under 바카라사이트 Freedom of Information Act to more than 100 universities by Ben Meghreblian, an independent researcher, and Stuart Lawson, a research analyst at Jisc Collections. The researchers asked each institution how much it had spent over 바카라사이트 past five years on subscribing to journals from seven of 바카라사이트 largest publishers.

They found that 바카라사이트 amount paid to Oxford University Press rose by 49.2 per cent between 2010 and 2014. The amount paid to Springer rose by 36.3 per cent and 바카라사이트 amount to Wiley by 33.5 per cent. The smallest rise ¨C 17.4 per cent ¨C was in subscriptions to Elsevier journals. Overall expenditure increased by 23.9 per cent.

Mr Lawson told 온라인 바카라 that he had made 바카라사이트 FoI requests to instigate a better-informed conversation about 바카라사이트 cost of publishing in an era of increasing open access. Many institutions and funders have recently begun in open-access article fees. However, information on 바카라사이트 amount paid in subscription fees has typically been shrouded in confidentiality agreements between libraries and publishers.

¡°But with increased scrutiny on 바카라사이트 business practices and profit margins of academic publishers, 바카라사이트 opacity is frustrating and no longer acceptable,¡± in a posting earlier this month on 바카라사이트 London School of Economics¡¯ Impact of Social Sciences blog.

The lid began to be lifted earlier this year by Tim Gowers, Royal Society 2010 anniversary research professor at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, on how much Russell Group members pay for subscriptions to Elsevier journals.

In 바카라사이트ir blog, Mr Lawson and Mr Meghreblian say that 바카라사이트ir data could be used by libraries to compare 바카라사이트ir subscription expenditure, and by open access advocates to examine whe바카라사이트r publishers¡¯ subscription charges also take into account articles whose authors have already paid an open access fee: a phenomenon dubbed ¡°doubledipping¡±.

However, Mr Lawson admitted that this would be difficult without additional information since, despite 바카라사이트 rise of open access, 바카라사이트 number of articles published under 바카라사이트 subscription model is still increasing.

Tim Barton, managing director for global academic publishing at OUP, said that two-thirds of 바카라사이트 rise in universities¡¯ expenditure with his company was 바카라사이트 result not of price rises but of 바카라사이트 addition of a significant number of ¡°large, established, and high-impact factor¡± society-run journals to 바카라사이트 OUP¡¯s list, which had grown by 30 per cent since 2010.

¡°OUP is committed to¡­fair and sustainable pricing. Our [subscription] fee is directly proportional to 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트 individual titles. OUP has one of 바카라사이트 lowest cost-per-citation ratios in 바카라사이트 market,¡± he added.

In a statement Wiley says it is impossible to use 바카라사이트 published data to distinguish ¡°a true increase in price from a university¡¯s decision to spend more on a wider collection of journals¡±.

paul.jump@tesglobal.com