This study looks closely at academic and research library plans for their scholarly journal subscriptions. These subscriptions are the heart of a research library’s scholarly services and often constitute the majority of materials spending, making them particularly vulnerable in an economic downturn.
This study helps its readers to answer questions such as: how many journal subscriptions have libraries cancelled this year? How many do they plan to cancel next year? Do they plan to add any subscriptions? How much do they plan to spend overall on journal subscriptions and what is the likely trend? What are their criteria for subscription cancellation and which academic fields will be the hardest hit? What processes or procedures do they follow when cancelling subscriptions? Are faculty consulted? How many proposed cancellations are prevented by faculty objections? What percentage is saved due to agreements from faculty to partially or wholly support their cost? What means do libraries use to satisfy requests for lost content when they cancel subscriptions? How successful are these means in meeting library patron needs?
Just a few of the many findings of this 73-page report are:
- Doctoral and MA/Level institutions in the sample plan to cancel a mean of 31.78 titles in the next year.
- 47.06% of libraries sample use a quantitative measure related to overall cost or cost per use to identify candidates for subscription cancellation.
- The smaller the library, the greater the percentage of libraries that give faculty a chance to object to journals cancellations.
- For research universities, the range of the percentage of times librarians are able to satisfy requests for content from recently cancelled journals is extraordinary with one participant able to satisfy library patron needs only 7.5% of the time, another, 90% of the time.
Table of Contents
1. THE QUESTIONNAIRE
2. PARTICIPANTS LIST
- Characteristics of the Sample
3. SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS
- Number of Journal Subscriptions Cancelled
- Breakdown of Cancellations by Academic Field
- Number of Journal Titles Added
- Academic Fields that Account for Most Journal Subscription Additions.
- Spending on Academic Journals 2019-20 Academic Year
- Spending on Academic Journals 2020-21 Academic Year
- Quantitative Measures Used by Library to Flag Journals for Cancellation
- Journal Subscription Cancellations Prevented by Objections of Faculty Members
- Are Faculty Given the Opportunity to Object to Journal Subscription Cancellations?
- Mechanisms for Faculty Objections to Journal Subscription Cancellations
- Percentage of Intended Cancellations Prevented by Financial Contributions from Faculties/Departments Outside the Library
- Ranking of Importance of Various Means of Providing Articles to Faculty in the
- Absence of Subscription to the Needed Resource
- Use of Pirating Sites
- Use of Google Scholar
- Use of Aggregator Databases
- Use of LOCKSS
- Use of Digital Repositories
- Use of Inter-Library Loan
- Use of Direct Appeals to Article Authors
- Use of ResearchGate & Similar Services
- Percentage of Requests for Articles from Cancelled Journals Successfully Satisfied through other Means
List of Tables
Table 1.1 How many journal title subscriptions has or does the library plan to cancel for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year?
Table 1.2 How many journal title subscriptions has or does the library plan to cancel for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Broken out by enrollment.
Table 1.3 How many journal title subscriptions has or does the library plan to cancel for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 1.4 How many journal title subscriptions has or does the library plan to cancel for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 1.5 How many journal title subscriptions has or does the library plan to cancel for the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Broken out for public and private colleges. Approximately, how do journal subscription cancellations break down by the academic field? Try to list at least the three or four highest subject fields, through percentages corresponding to the percentage of the total spending cuts. Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 2.1 How many journal titles has or will the library add as new titles in the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Answer only with the number of individual titles added, in any format, not considering titles dropped.
Table 2.2 How many journal titles has or will the library add as new titles in the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Answer only with the number of individual titles added, in any format, not considering titles dropped. Broken out by enrollment
Table 2.3 How many journal titles has or will the library add as new titles in the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Answer only with the number of individual titles added, in any format, not considering titles dropped. Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 2.4 How many journal titles has or will the library add as new titles in the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Answer only with the number of individual titles added, in any format, not considering titles dropped. Broken out by tuition,$
Table 2.5 How many journal titles has or will the library add as new titles in the upcoming 2020-21 academic year? Answer only with the number of individual titles added, in any format, not considering titles dropped. Broken out for public and private colleges. Which fields account for most title additions? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 3 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in each of the following years?
Table 3.1.1 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2019-20 academic year?
Table 3.1.2 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2019-20 academic year? Broken out by enrollment
Table 3.1.3 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2019-20 academic year? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 3.1.4 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2019-20 academic year? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 3.1.5 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2019-20 academic year? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 3.2.1 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2020-21 academic year?
Table 3.2.2 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2020-21 academic year? Broken out by enrollment
Table 3.2.3 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2020-21 academic year? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 3.2.4 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2020-21 academic year? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 3.2.5 How much will your library spend (in US $) on academic journals in 2020-21 academic year? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 4.1 What is your best estimate for academic library spending (in US $) on academic journals in 2021-22? Give it your best estimate with the most likely assumptions.
Table 4.2 What is your best estimate for academic library spending (in US $) on academic journals in 2021-22? Give it your best estimate with the most likely assumptions. Broken out by enrollment
Table 4.3 What is your best estimate for academic library spending (in US $) on academic journals in 2021-22? Give it your best estimate with the most likely assumptions. Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 4.4 What is your best estimate for academic library spending (in US $) on academic journals in 2021-22? Give it your best estimate with the most likely assumptions. Broken out by tuition, $.
Table 4.5 What is your best estimate for academic library spending (in US $) on academic journals in 2021-22? Give it your best estimate with the most likely assumptions. Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 5.1 Does the library use a quantitative measure related to overall cost or cost per use of a journal in order to flag or identify candidates for cancellation?
Table 5.2 Does the library use a quantitative measure related to overall cost or cost per use of a journal in order to flag or identify candidates for cancellation? Broken out by enrollment
Table 5.3 Does the library use a quantitative measure related to overall cost or cost per use of a journal in order to flag or identify candidates for cancellation? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 5.4 Does the library use a quantitative measure related to overall cost or cost per use of a journal in order to flag or identify candidates for cancellation? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 5.5 Does the library use a quantitative measure related to overall cost or cost per use of a journal in order to flag or identify candidates for cancellation? Broken out for public and private colleges If so what is this measure or threshold? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 6.1 What percentage of the candidates for subscription removal that you identify are taken off the list after intervention or objections by faculty or other end users?
Table 6.2 What percentage of the candidates for subscription removal that you identify are taken off the list after intervention or objections by faculty or other end users? Broken out by enrollment
Table 6.3 What percentage of the candidates for subscription removal that you identify are taken off the list after intervention or objections by faculty or other end users? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 6.4 What percentage of the candidates for subscription removal that you identify are taken off the list after intervention or objections by faculty or other end users? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 6.5 What percentage of the candidates for subscription removal that you identify are taken off the list after intervention or objections by faculty or other end users? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 7.1 Are faculty given a chance to object to the removal of particular journal titles?
Table 7.2 Are faculty given a chance to object to the removal of particular journal titles? Broken out by enrollment
Table 7.3 Are faculty given a chance to object to the removal of particular journal titles? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 7.4 Are faculty given a chance to object to the removal of particular journal titles? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 7.5 Are faculty given a chance to object to the removal of particular journal titles? Broken out for public and private colleges so, is this a formal process, and how does it work in practice? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 8.1 About what percentage of intended cancellations are prevented by financial contributions to pay for the subscription from academic departments or other academic centers apart from the library?
Table 8.2 About what percentage of intended cancellations are prevented by financial contributions to pay for the subscription from academic departments or other academic centers apart from the library? Broken out by enrollment
Table 8.3 About what percentage of intended cancellations are prevented by financial contributions to pay for the subscription from academic departments or other academic centers apart from the library? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 8.4 About what percentage of intended cancellations are prevented by financial contributions to pay for the subscription from academic departments or other academic centers apart from the library? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 8.5 About what percentage of intended cancellations are prevented by financial contributions to pay for the subscription from academic departments or other academic centers apart from the library? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 9 Rank the usefulness of the following measures to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals to which subscription access has been cancelled.
Table 9.1.1 Rank the usefulness of using Sc-Hub and other similar sites to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.1.2 Rank the usefulness of using Sc-Hub and other similar sites to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment
Table 9.1.3 Rank the usefulness of using Sc-Hub and other similar sites to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.1.4 Rank the usefulness of using Sc-Hub and other similar sites to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 9.1.5 Rank the usefulness of using Sc-Hub and other similar sites to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges.
Table 9.2.1 Rank the usefulness of using Google Scholar to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.2.2 Rank the usefulness of using Google Scholar to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment.
Table 9.2.3 Rank the usefulness of using Google Scholar to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.2.4 Rank the usefulness of using Google Scholar to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 9.2.5 Rank the usefulness of using Google Scholar to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 9.3.1 Rank the usefulness of using aggregator databases to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.3.2 Rank the usefulness of using aggregator databases to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment
Table 9.3.3 Rank the usefulness of using aggregator databases to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.3.4 Rank the usefulness of using aggregator databases to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition,$.
Table 9.3.5 Rank the usefulness of using aggregator databases to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 9.4.1 Rank the usefulness of using LOCKSS to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.4.2 Rank the usefulness of using LOCKSS to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment
Table 9.4.3 Rank the usefulness of using LOCKSS to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.4.4 Rank the usefulness of using LOCKSS to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 9.4.5 Rank the usefulness of using LOCKSS to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 9.5.1 Rank the usefulness of using consolidated search techniques for pre-prints, repositories and other similar sources to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.5.2 Rank the usefulness of using consolidated search techniques for pre-prints, repositories and other similar sources to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment
Table 9.5.3 Rank the usefulness of using consolidated search techniques for pre-prints, repositories and other similar sources to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.5.4 Rank the usefulness of using consolidated search techniques for pre-prints, repositories and other similar sources to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 9.5.5 Rank the usefulness of using consolidated search techniques for pre-prints, repositories and other similar sources to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 9.6.1 Rank the usefulness of using inter-library loan to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.6.2 Rank the usefulness of using inter-library loan to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment
Table 9.6.3 Rank the usefulness of using inter-library loan to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.6.4 Rank the usefulness of using inter-library loan to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 9.6.5 Rank the usefulness of using inter-library loan to satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 9.7.1 Rank the usefulness of direct appeals to scholarly authors satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.7.2 Rank the usefulness of direct appeals to scholarly authors satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment
Table 9.7.3 Rank the usefulness of direct appeals to scholarly authors satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.7.4 Rank the usefulness of direct appeals to scholarly authors satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 9.7.5 Rank the usefulness of direct appeals to scholarly authors satisfy faculty needs to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 9.8.1 Rank the usefulness of ResearchGate and similar services to obtain access to particular articles in journals?
Table 9.8.2 Rank the usefulness of ResearchGate and similar services to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by enrollment
Table 9.8.3 Rank the usefulness of ResearchGate and similar services to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 9.8.4 Rank the usefulness of ResearchGate and similar services to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out by tuition, $
Table 9.8.5 Rank the usefulness of researchGate and similar services to obtain access to particular articles in journals? Broken out for public and private colleges
Table 10.1 In the past about when the library has cancelled journals titles, about what percentage of requests for access to these journals has been satisfied through other options such as interlibrary loan, use of digital repositories and other open access sources, or use of aggregator databases?
Table 10.2 In the past about when the library has cancelled journals titles, about what percentage of requests for access to these journals has been satisfied through other options such as interlibrary loan, use of digital repositories and other open access sources, or use of aggregator databases. Broken out by enrollment
Table 10.3 In the past about when the library has cancelled journal titles, about what percentage of requests for access to these journals has been satisfied through other options such as interlibrary loan, use of digital repositories and other open access sources, or use of aggregator databases. Broken out by Carnegie class or type of institution
Table 10.4 In the past about when the library has cancelled journal titles, about what percentage of requests for access to these journals has been satisfied through other options such as interlibrary loan, use of digital repositories and other open access sources, or use of aggregator databases. Broken out by tuition, $
Table 10.5 In the past about when the library has cancelled journal titles, about what percentage of requests for access to these journals has been satisfied through other options such as interlibrary loan, use of digital repositories and other open access sources, or use of aggregator databases. Broken out for public and private colleges
Sources / Contributors
- AAFP
- Ambrose University
- American Museum of Natural History
- Antelope Valley College
- Bryan College
- Clatsop Community College
- Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine -- Carolinas
- Elizabeth City State University
- Exane
- Isothermal Community College
- Kasetsart University
- Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
- Keyll Darree Library
- Kilgore College
- Lawrence Technological University
- Mid-America Christian University
- NACE
- National University of Samoa
- Northwest Florida State College
- Nova Southeastern University
- Oregon Institute of Technology
- Ozarka College
- Rivier University
- Saint Joseph Seminary College
- Salem State
- South Plains College
- Tennessee Technological University
- University of Canterbury
- University of North Dakota Libraries
- University of Otago, New Zealand
- Western Oregon University
- Winona State University
- Worcester State University
- Yeshiva University
Methodology
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