SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING & ACADEMIC RESOURCES COALITION
An initiative of the Association of Research Libraries
Igniting Change in the
www.arl.org/sparc
Scholarly
Communication
System
Julia Blixrud • SPARC Assistant Director, Public Programs
New Routes to Scholarly Communication
11 March 2002 • London • CURL Staffing Event
1
Presentation Overview
Identifying the problem
www.arl.org/sparc
Developing a response
SPARC activities
SPARC accomplishments
Other initiatives
What you can do
2
The Global Journals Problem
UK 1989-99 North America 1986-00
www.arl.org/sparc
Journals unit cost +364% Journal unit cost +226%
Faculty salaries +60% Journals expenditure +192%
Journals purchased -7%
Monographs purchased -17%
Faculty salaries +68%
Consumer Price Index +57%
Australia 1986-98
Serials unit cost +474%
Serials expenditure +263%
3 Titles purchased - 37%
Journal Prices and UK Academic
Libraries (SCONUL Statistics)
140% Journal price index
Current serials per fte
www.arl.org/sparc
120% Journal expenditure per fte
Book price index
100%
Books acquired per fte
Book expenditure per fte
80%
Retail Price index
60%
40%
20%
0%
-20%
-40%
4 91-92 92-93 93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00
5
www.arl.org/sparc
Marketplace Factors
Robust supply side
www.arl.org/sparc
Scarce good - inelastic market
Barriers to market entry
Library acquisitions practices
Faculty expectations
Disjunction between creator/user and fiscal
agent
Commercial firms, consolidations and
mergers
6
Developing a Response
Reactive
Ask for more money
Journal cancellations
www.arl.org/sparc
Improve document delivery
Cooperative collection development
Consortial buying & site licenses for electronic information
Proactive
Improve value signals between faculty & library
Increase promotion & tenure emphasis on quality
Create competition in the marketplace
Editorial boards gain control over journal business policies
Partner for mutual benefit with other players in the
information chain
Introduce alternatives to institutional subscription model
Deconstruct the journal
7
SPARC
Worldwide alliance of universities,
research libraries, and organizations built
www.arl.org/sparc
as a constructive response to market
dysfunctions in the scholarly
communication system
Serves as a catalyst for action, helping to
create systems that expand information
dissemination and use in a networked
digital environment while responding to
the needs of scholars and academe
8
SPARC Strategic Thrusts
INCUBATION OF ALTERNATIVES
Publishing Alternative Build
www.arl.org/sparc
partnerships business capacity in
models non-profit
PUBLIC ADVOCACY
Outreach to Promote Stimulate
stakeholders action expansion of
options non-profit
EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS
Publicize Stimulate Encourage
pricing issue discussion of institution &
solutions society roles
9
SPARC Supports Alternatives
Theory and Practice of
Logic Programming
EXAMPLES
www.arl.org/sparc
50-person editorial board and sponsoring
society quit commercially published
Journal of Logic Programming to start
alternative in 2001.
www.cwi.nl/projects/alp/
Editorial board of
commercially published
Machine Learning
resigned to launch free
electronic journal in 2001.
10 www.jmlr.org
Pressure to Reduce Prices
“SPARC played an
essential role in our
www.arl.org/sparc
successful negotiations
with our journal's
Societydemanded new
publisher.... [The
deal with publisher publisher] knew we'd
Institutional
price been in contact with
SPARC. Both our
dropped from $2085 to
journal and association
$1390 stand to benefit
Expanded editorial office substantially.”
Chair, AAPA
support Publications Committee
11
Impact of Price Reductions
Making more money available ...
www.arl.org/sparc
Hypothetical Library
2000 spend with one Large Publisher £ 500,000
“Double-digit” rate increase at 12% £ 60,000
Actual 2001 increase at 6.5%* £ 32,500
Hypothetical savings £ 27,500
12
SPARC Supports New Players
University Initiatives
Univ. Arizona: J. Insect Science
www.arl.org/sparc
Journal of Univ. Bielefeld: Documenta
Insect Science Mathematica
Univ. California: eScholarship
www.insectscience.org Columbia Univ: Earthscape
Univ. Warwick: Geometry &
Topology Publications
Independent startups
Evolutionary Ecol. Research.
Internet Journal of Chemistry
Collaborative Partnerships
BioOne
Cornell Univ Lib/Duke Press:
13 www.BioOne.org Project Euclid
The Value of Alternatives
Tetrahedron Letters: U.S. Institutional Price
www.arl.org/sparc
$13,000
$12,070 Alternative
$12,000 $2,438
$11,000
$10,495 $3.034
$10,000 Saving
Subscription Price
$9,126
$9,000
$8,859 $9,036
$8,000 $8,602
$7,936
$7,000
$6,895
$6,000 Organic
$6,003 SPARC Letters
$5,000 Launch Launch
$5,199
$4,000
'95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01
Subscription Year
14
Actual Trend (+15%)
www.arl.org/sparc Impact of Competition on Price
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SPARC Titles are Less Expensive
Establishe d Title SPARC Alternativ e Savings
Title Price Title Price Oppty
www.arl.org/sparc
Topol ogy & Its $2,509 Algebraic and Free $2,509
Appl ications Geometri c Topol ogy
Journal of Crystal $8,657 Crystal Growth & $1,600 $7,057
Growth Desi gn
Evolutionary Ecology $560 Evolutionary Ecology $305 $255
(price reduced in 2001) Research
Topol ogy $1,223 Geometry & Free $1,223
Topol ogy
Organi c $2,359 Geochemical $100 $2,259
Geochemistry Transacti ons
Sensors & Actuators, $4,989 IEEE Sensors $395 $4,594
A& B Journal
Machine Learni ng $1,006 Jnl of Machi ne Free $1,006
Learning Research
Tetrahedron Letters $9,036 Organi c Letters $2,438 $6,598
Chemical Physics $9,637 PhysChemComm $100 $9,537
Letters
Jnl of Logi c & $701 Theory & Practice of $300 $401
Algebraic Logic Programmi ng
Programming
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$40,677 $5,238 $35,439
www.arl.org/sparc Authors Are Making the Switch
Tet. Lett.
decline
following
Org. Lett.
launch
Strong
Org. Lett.
take-off
ACTUAL TREND
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SPARC Encourages New Models
OPEN ARCHIVES
www.arl.org/sparc
Open Value-added
Interoperability Standards
Repositories Services
Integrated
Institutional
scholarly
Servers communities
Author Reader
Disciplinary
Search tools
Servers
Journals Workflow
(e.g., PLoS model) Applications
18
www.arl.org/sparc Raising Public Attention
“Although the battle is being fought
over subscription prices, what is
really at stake...is the scientific
process itself.”
New York Times, Dec. 8, 1998
19
Education and Advocacy
Shift control of scholarly
publication back to
www.arl.org/sparc
scholars
Influence scholarly
publishers to abide by
friendly pricing policies
www.createchange.org Create alternatives to
commercial scholarly
Sponsored by the Association of publications
Research Libraries, Association of
College and Research Libraries, Foster changes in faculty
and SPARC with support from the peer review system
Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
20
Create Change Resources
Brochure for local adaptation
www.arl.org/sparc
Web resources
Detailed description of the issues, including data
and case studies
Suggestions for action
Templates for letters to publishers
Reading list
Success stories
Information on managing your copyright
21
Education and Advocacy
Aimed at Editorial Boards
of high-priced commercial
www.arl.org/sparc
A Guide to Creating journals
Community-controlled
Science Publications
Components
Brochure/mailings
Web resources
SPARC advisory services
Contents
Diagnosis of Current
Situation
Exploration of Alternatives
DECLARING INDEPENDENCE
Evaluation of Options
Making a Decision
22 www.arl.org/sparc/DI
SPARC Accomplishments
Demonstrated that new journals can successfully compete
for authors and quickly establish quality
www.arl.org/sparc
Has been effective in driving down the cost of journals
Created environment in which editors and editorial board
members claim more prominent roles in the business aspects
of their journals
Stimulated the development of increased publishing
capacity in the not-for-profit sector and encouraged new
players to enter the market
Provided help and guidance to scientists and librarians
interested in creating change
Carried the methods and message of change to international
stakeholders
23
Introducing SPARC Europe
What is SPARC Why SPARC Europe?
Europe? Organize campus
www.arl.org/sparc
Europe-based coalition education & advocacy
of academic & in Europe
research libraries Demonstrate potential
Supported by of Open Archives
LIBER Reach out to European
CURL societies
JISC
SCONUL
More information at:
UKB
24 www.sparceurope.org
Other Initiatives and Activities
Budapest Open Access Initiative (www.soros.org/openaccess/)
Public Library of Science (www.publiclibraryofscience.org)
www.arl.org/sparc
Tempe Principles (www.arl.org/scomm/tempe.html)
Physics (www.arXiv.org)
MIT dSpace (web.mit.edu/dspace/live/home.html)
BioSciences
PubMed Central (www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov)
BioMed Central (www.biomedcentral.com)
BioLine (www.bioline.org.br/)
History E-Book Project (www.historyebook.org)
William Blake Archive (www.blakearchive.org)
25
Challenges to New Forms
Resistance to abandoning print
www.arl.org/sparc
User tradition
Costs
Changing economic model takes time
Archivability of electronic publications
Incompatible standards
Willingness to cooperate
Ability and capacity for universities to be
26
publishers
What Can You Do?
Scholars Librarians
Encourage discussion of the Encourage discussion of
www.arl.org/sparc
issues within department issues on campus
Encourage professional Meet with departments and
society to consider new hold discussions at faculty
technologies as well as meetings
enhanced competitors Participate in development
Modify publishing contract of institutional intellectual
to ensure your right to use property policies
and post your own work Become familiar with (or
Examine pricing, licensing, even conduct) cost-per-use
and copyright agreements studies
for any journal for which Support participation in
you write, review, or edit SPARC Europe
Support open access Support open access
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Scholars Are The Key To Change
“There is a great deal that you can do. In fact,
www.arl.org/sparc
it is you and only you who can bring about
the changes that need to happen. Unless you
want access to more published research,
unless you want costs that truly reflect value,
you won’t get either.”
Michael Rosenzweig, Editor
Evolutionary Ecology Research
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SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING & ACADEMIC RESOURCES COALITION
An initiative of the Association of Research Libraries
Julia C. Blixrud
www.arl.org/sparc
Assistant Director, Public Programs
SPARC
21 Dupont Circle, Ste 800
Washington, DC 20036
jblix@arl.org
+1 202-296-2296 ext. 133
+1 202-872-0884 (fax)
+1 202-251-4678 (mobile)
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