The Library Journal published its usual annual survey on periodical prices. Nothing new, unfortunately. As in the last 24 years, "Flat budgets, price increases, and a reliance on status journals for tenure and promotion keep familiar pressures on the serials marketplace." This well known, outstanding, and even growing problem is the foundation for the librarians' passionate support to the open access movement.
But let's have a closer look.
The table shows subscription costs by subject for the titles indexed on Scopus (the most commonly held in academic libraries).
| SUBJECT |
AVG # OF TITLES 2016-18 |
% OF CHANGE 2016-18 | AVG COST PER TITLE 2016 | AVG COST PER TITLE 2017 | % OF CHANGE 2017 | AVG COST PER TITLE 2018 | % OF CHANGE 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 441 | -8 | $1,040.00 | $1,107.00 | 6 | $1,191.00 | 8 |
| Anthropology | 110 | 1 | $571.00 | $604.00 | 5 | $655.00 | 8 |
| Arts & Architecture | 168 | 1 | $486.00 | $508.00 | 4 | $543.00 | 7 |
| Astronomy | 57 | -4 | $1,876.00 | $2,044.00 | 8 | $2,221.00 | 9 |
| Biology | 1,077 | -23 | $2,216.00 | $2,351.00 | 6 | $2,502.00 | 6 |
| Botany | 144 | 1 | $1,321.00 | $1,401.00 | 6 | $1,464.00 | 4 |
| Business & Economics | 1,173 | -1 | $1,368.00 | $1,411.00 | 3 | $1,471.00 | 4 |
| Chemistry | 363 | -3 | $4,062.00 | $4,240.00 | 4 | $4,429.00 | 4 |
| Education | 379 | -4 | $894.00 | $944.00 | 5 | $1,005.00 | 6 |
| Engineering | 1,678 | -13 | $1,800.00 | $1,901.00 | 5 | $2,115.00 | 11 |
| Food Science | 68 | 0 | $1,780.00 | $1,841.00 | 3 | $1,942.00 | 5 |
| General Science | 210 | -1 | $1,274.00 | $1,334.00 | 5 | $1,404.00 | 5 |
| General Works | 95 | 2 | $382.00 | $391.00 | 2 | $414.00 | 6 |
| Geography | 266 | -7 | $1,061.00 | $1,150.00 | 8 | $1,228.00 | 7 |
| Geology | 202 | 1 | $1,665.00 | $1,760.00 | 5 | $1,865.00 | 6 |
| Health Sciences | 3,744 | -83 | $1,142.00 | $1,211.00 | 6 | $1,303.00 | 8 |
| History | 568 | 10 | $462.00 | $423.00 | -9 | $448.00 | 6 |
| Language & Literature | 664 | 1 | $394.00 | $416.00 | 5 | $443.00 | 6 |
| Law | 248 | -6 | $573.00 | $595.00 | 4 | $618.00 | 4 |
| Library Science | 122 | -4 | $1,024.00 | $1,068.00 | 4 | $1,119.00 | 5 |
| Math & Computer Science | 852 | -3 | $1,376.00 | $1,441.00 | 4 | $1,520.00 | 6 |
| Military & Naval Science | 63 | 1 | $652.00 | $667.00 | 2 | $704.00 | 6 |
| Music | 80 | 0 | $293.00 | $311.00 | 6 | $337.00 | 8 |
| Philosophy & Religion | 377 | 1 | $397.00 | $420.00 | 5 | $441.00 | 5 |
| Physics | 396 | 4 | $3,171.00 | $3,306.00 | 4 | $3,454.00 | 4 |
| Political Science | 217 | 0 | $713.00 | $754.00 | 5 | $810.00 | 7 |
| Psychology | 263 | -2 | $829.00 | $879.00 | 6 | $943.00 | 7 |
| Recreation | 78 | 0 | $686.00 | $730.00 | 6 | $794.00 | 9 |
| Social Sciences | 106 | 2 | $839.00 | $887.00 | 5 | $928.00 | 5 |
| Sociology | 624 | 0 | $831.00 | $878.00 | 5 | $932.00 | 6 |
| Technology | 343 | -5 | $1,485.00 | $1,556.00 | 5 | $1,634.00 | 5 |
| Zoology | 264 | -9 | $1,379.00 | $1,461.00 | 6 | $1,556.00 | 6 |
| TOTALS/AVERAGES | 6,837 | 8 | $1,321.00 | $1,388.00 | 5 | $1,483.00 | 7 |
| SOURCE: LJ PERIODICALS PRICE SURVEY 2018 | |||||||
The average annual cost per title for 2018 is over $1400.00.
Luckily enough, JCU is a liberal arts college, and the Library only needs to pay subscriptions for journals in the Arts ($655), Business and Economics ($1,411), History ($448), Language and Literature ($443), Law ($618), Philosophy and Religion ($441), Political Science ($810), Psychology ($943), Social Sciences ($928), and Sociology ($932).
These rather unbelievable amounts go all in the hands of the publishers. No fraction is shared with the authors, who need to publish to progress in their careers.
The report shows a direct correlation between the cost of the journals and the impact indicators used for tenure decisions (Impact Factor, Eigenfactor). The higher the impact, the higher the cost. But tiny differences in the metrics correspond to very big differences in price bands.
Who is going to break this spiral?