148.2 1996 JOURNAL PRICE INCREASE: HARRASSOWITZ PRICE STUDY
148.3 THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PRICING POLICY, Philip Barnett
148.4 _THE EUROPEAN LEGACY_, Press Release from MIT Press
148.5 AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY 1996 SUBSCRIPTION SAVINGS, Maria LeBron
Marcia Tuttle, tuttle@gibbs.oit.unc.edu.
Subscribers who download their newsletter issues to another format -- and even those who don't -- may notice that with this issue you have more white (or blue, or black) space. I have taken over the job of marking up each issue for the newsletter's Web site (http://www.lib.unc.edu/prices/prices.html), and it didn't take long for me to realize that 75-space lines and hyphenation cause problems. A few of you have been telling me that for years, but I thought it important to keep each issue as short as possible. Now, I've changed my mind! The issues will appear to be longer because they will take more lines, but we will endeavor to keep the overall size at around 14-17k.
Both newsletter editorial board members and I have had requests to write about Richard Rowe's Subscribe96, an innovative and experimental method of subscribing to some serials. We plan to evaluate the system thoroughly, but first we must give it a chance to work! The 1996 orders placed through Dr. Rowe's system have not yet begun to arrive in libraries, and we feel that we must wait several months before there will be a basis for evaluation. When that time comes, we expect to have reports from both publishers and librarians.
148.2 1996 JOURNAL PRICE INCREASE: HARRASSOWITZ PRICE STUDY
Reprinted with permission from _Harrassowitz Newsletter for North American Libraries_, September 1995.
When librarians request price increase information for budget planning, accurate estimates are difficult to provide, since we have no definite pricing information from the publishers that early in the year. The unprecedented price increases for most STM titles this year have dealt a hard blow to any earlier estimates.
Not all 1996 journal prices are available yet [as of September 19, 1995], but we have received prices from the major STM publishers. Since STM titles have the greatest impact on journal expenditures for most libraries, Harrassowitz has compiled a periodicals 95-96 price increase study of the journals from six major STM Continental European publishers which produce approximately 90% of the STM publishing in Continental Europe. In all cases, the publishers have established a fixed US Dollar price for their journals published in Europe.
The study compares the price increases for different types of libraries by examining data from actual invoicing files for these types of libraries: Medical, Science/Technology, General Academic - including sci/tech subjects, General Academic Libraries - primarily Social Studies and Humanities subjects.
The overall average price increase for the complete list of journals for each of the 6 publishers ranged from a high of 24.33% to a low of only 9.48%. But the average price increase for these publishers' titles subscribed to by each library ranged from a high of 26.47% to a low of 5.05%. Showing the variation in the statistics among libraries and also, the differences between the statistics for a specific library list and the statistics for the publisher's complete list of titles, the study vividly demonstrates how difficult it is to provide valid price increase _estimates_ earlier in the year, since the only meaningful statistics must relate to the specific journals to which the library subscribes.
To obtain a copy of this study, please contact our Library Services office in Columbia MD: Phone - 800 348-6886; fax - 410 964-3013. [The study itself consists of charts and graphs that emphasize the differences in price increase between "real" libraries and the publishers' complete lists, and between different types of libraries. -ed.]
148.3 THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PRICING POLICY
Philip Barnett, City College of New York, phbcc@cunyvm.cuny.edu.
[Received October 31, 1995.]
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) is attacking the relentless rise in journal prices. They have heard the cries of pain from librarians who must stock their libraries with journals when budgets have not risen. They are also aware of major cancellations at many formerly well stocked libraries. The bottom line is that in 1995 they have increased the prices for the journals they publish by only 12.5%. For 1996 the average price increase will be only 9%. They also intend to continue reducing this rate of increase for at least one more year.
The AIP has introduced another cost saving feature by extending their range of combination subscription packages. Some libraries are buying a selection of journals that falls a little short of one of the money saving combinations. Many of these libraries can now use one of these new package offers to increase their number of AIP journals while paying less. The subscription renewal forms and journals catalog detail these packages.
How are they going against the trend of ever increasing costs? I am a consultant (unpaid) to one of their publishing advisory committees, where I have observed their deliberations on journal subscription prices. The AIP used to base their journal price increases on three factors: increased production costs, growth in the size of journals, and decreases in the number of subscriptions. Each factor contributed about 5% towards an overall annual increase of about 15%. The AIP accepted this increase because their prices were still lower than many of their competitors.
The executive director of the AIP, Dr. Marc H. Brodsky, realizing that its customers cannot continually meet these price increases, changed the AIP's pricing philosophy. They will no longer base their subscription costs on the traditional factors explained above. To operate under this self-imposed restraint they are implementing economies in their production department by increasing the use of technology, and they are controlling the increase in the number of pages they publish each year.
Despite these restraints the AIP is introducing innovative products such as _Applied Physics Letters Online_, a hypertext edition that besides faithfully reproducing all the text, figures, diagrams, and tables of the equivalent printed product, also allows searching for related information. The AIP has also introduced a new document delivery service "Articles in Physics."
The AIP is a not-for-profit, public service organization that provides numerous services to the physics community. It is also an umbrella organization to its ten member societies. Some of its services are education and employment surveys, studies of physics history, and provision of information to the public by press, radio and television. The AIP has no individual members and no membership dues. Essentially all of its income comes from sale of its scholarly journals.... They also publish English language translations of some Russian physics journals.
This description of the AIP should clear up a few misunderstandings about the AIP which were expressed in a previous issue of this newsletter (article 140.4, May 25, 1995). In that article Andrew Odlyzko points out that even though two journals covering the same field of physics may have the same prestige and reputation, authors may choose to publish in the more expensive journal if they do not have to pay page charges. Obviously library budgets suffer if most of the key papers in physics are published in expensive journals. Fortunately, this criticism does not apply to the AIP. The AIP requests page charges for only four of its eight journals.... For these journals the payment is voluntary; no penalty is assessed against authors who cannot pay the charges. The AIP is gratified that most authors do pay. Clearly, authors have no reason to desert the AIP and publish in more expensive journals.
Odlyzko also quotes a message from Paul Ginsparg who chides physics publishers that use their publishing activities to "subsidize" their other activities. Subsidy is not a word that applies to the AIP. Since the AIP has basically no other source of income besides its journal sales, it needs this income to provide its services which are necessary to the physics community.
Obviously one publisher reducing its prices has only a small effect on library budgets. Price decreases (or lower price increases) are only meaningful and only have an effect if other publishers follow. There does seem to be a ripple effect here. Several member societies of the AIP such as the American Physical Society are also reducing the increase in their subscription costs.
Press release from Janet Fisher, MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge MA 02142; jfisher@mit.edu.
I am writing to advise you of some important changes regarding the journals _History of European Ideas_ and _The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms_.
We are pleased to announce that the editors of HEI, Ezra and Sascha Talmor, and its sponsor, the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI), have chosen The MIT Press as their new publisher. Previously, they published _History of European Ideas_ with Pergamon Press, a division of Elsevier Science Ltd. They have moved to MIT Press because, in part, we have agreed to reduce subscription fees substantially to make the journal accessible to a wider audience. Starting in early 1996 with Volume 1, their successor journal entitled _The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms_ (ISSN: 1084-8770) will be published by The MIT Press. In 1996 publication frequency will be 8 times per year, and the institutional price will be $390 per volume, plus $30 per year for foreign mailing. We plan to change the frequency to 6 times per year in 1997 and reduce the price further at that time.
MIT Press's first two issues of _The European Legacy_ will consist of the proceedings of the conference organized by the ISSEI in Graz in 1994. Please make special note that these proceedings issues will be numbered Volume 1, Nos. 1 and 2 of the new journal. We would have preferred to retain the name and numbering of the predecessor journal, but that has not proved feasible.
We want to ensure as easy a transition as possible for you and for the patrons you serve. We therefore greatly regret any inconvenience this change in name and numbering may cause. Unfortunately, it has been unavoidable. Pergamon/Elsevier has taken the position that it owns _History of European Ideas_ and apparently hopes to continue publishing a journal under that name with a new editor and a new editorial board, without the sponsorship of the ISSEI. We have attempted to reach an amicable settlement with Pergamon/Elsevier that would avoid this odd result, but to no avail.
If you received from Elsevier any promotional or other matter concerning _History of European Ideas_, you and your [patrons] should be aware that any such publication will have no editorial input from the editors and others who made the old _History of European Ideas_ such a distinguished contribution to the study of European culture. All those people can now be found on the masthead and in the editorial vision of MIT Press's new journal _The European Legacy_.
Please write or telephone if you require any further information. Again, we regret the recordkeeping headaches that these changes may cause you. We believe that your [patrons] will be more satisfied, however, with the end result: a world-class journal at an affordable price.
148.5 AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY 1996 SUBSCRIPTION SAVINGS
Maria LeBron, American Physical Society, lebron@aps.org.
The American Physical Society (APS) wishes to alert librarians that the two subscription packages will be available again in calendar year 1996. We call your attention to this because we have noticed that a number of institutions subscribe to various of our publications -- even to all the journals that individually make up a package -- yet do not take advantage of the institutional package savings.
The first package, entitled PR-ALL, includes all the sections of PHYSICAL REVIEW (A, B, C, D, and E) plus the PHYSICAL REVIEW INDEX.
The second package, entitled APS-ALL, includes all the publications listed above plus PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS (hardcopy version; the online version may be ordered for an additional $250), REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS, APS NEWS, and all issues of the BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY (including the "APS Membership Directory" and the "Directory of Physics and Astronomy Staff" issues in the years that they appear).
CY 1996 information:
Package Savings # Issues # Pages Domestic Surface Air
Orders Freight* Freight**
PR-ALL $1,320 109 82,000 $8,000 $8,395 $9,170
APS-ALL $1,700 191 95,000 $10,300 $10,815 $11,770
* (Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and the
Caribbean)
** (Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Oceania)
For further information please contact Maria L Lebron as follows:
Associate Publisher, American Physical Society, One Physics
Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844 USA. Facsimile: 301-209-0844 E-Mail: LEBRON@APS.ORG
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Statements of fact and opinion appearing in the _Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues_ are made on the responsibility of the authors alone, and do not imply the endorsement of the editor, the editorial board, or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Readers of the NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES are encouraged to share the information in the newsletter by electronic or paper methods. We would appreciate credit if you quote from the newsletter.
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The NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES (ISSN: 1046-3410) is published by the editor through the Office of Information Technology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as news is available. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, Internet: tuttle@gibbs.oit.unc.edu; Paper mail: Serials Department, CB #3938 Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27514-8890; Telephone: 919 962-1067; FAX: 919 962- 4450. Editorial Board: Deana Astle (Clemson University), Christian Boissonnas (Cornell University), Jerry Curtis (Springer Verlag New York), Janet Fisher (MIT Press), Fred Friend (University College, London), Charles Hamaker (Louisiana State University), Daniel Jones (University of Texas Health Science Center), Michael Markwith (Swets North America), James Mouw (University of Chicago), and Heather Steele (Blackwell's Periodicals Division). The Newsletter is available on the Internet, Blackwell's CONNECT, and Readmore's ROSS. EBSCO customers may receive the Newsletter in paper format.
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Back issues of the Newsletter are archived on the UNC-Chapel Hill World Wide Web site. For a complete file, telnet to: library.unc.edu; login as library; choose UNC Internet Library; choose Electronic Journals. For issues since March 1994, the url is: http://www.lib.unc.edu/prices/prices.html. Issues are also archived on the listserver. To get a list of available issues send a message to LISTSERV@UNC.EDU saying INDEX PRICES. To retrieve a specific issue, the message should read: GET PRICES PRICES.xx (where "xx" is the number of the issue).
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