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Elsevier responds to Faculty Senate vote on
costly journal subscriptions
We read with great interest the article on the Faculty Senate
resolution concerning academic journal subscription prices in the
Feb. 25 issue of Stanford Report. At that time,
unfortunately, we were not able to provide a comment for the
article because we had not had an opportunity to review the
resolution. Having done so now, however, we would like to provide
our point of view on some of the issues raised in the article.
As a leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical
(STM) journals, Elsevier recognizes the budget constraints that
academic libraries operate under. And we are committed to working
with our customers to meet the needs of their research communities
in a cost-effective way.
For the last five years, Elsevier has led the way in slowing
down the increase of subscription costs and, in some cases, has
instituted price caps in order to maintain price stability. While
we are proud of this progress, it should be recognized that:
- Publishing costs are rising. The number of scholarly journals
and articles has increased roughly 3 percent per annum for many
years, reflecting steady growth in research spending. At the same
time, the volume and frequency of use of our journals is
increasing. Between 2001 and 2003, for example, the number of U.S.
users of Elsevier's electronic platform, Science Direct, increased
56 percent, while the frequency of use increased 125 percent. It is
imperative that our publishing programs and our systems develop
accordingly to ensure continuous, stable access to the growing body
of scientific information. While these costs are real and not
insignificant, we are happy to be able to provide this important
service to the STM community.
- Like other STM publishers, Elsevier has made substantial
investments in electronic platforms and digitization initiatives to
improve accessibility and functionality. As a result, between 2001
and 2003, the average cost to retrieve an article on Science Direct
has fallen 53 percent.
- Library budgets are declining. As a portion of university
expenditures, library budgets have fallen from 3.7 percent in 1982
to 2.9 percent in 2000. The serials component of most libraries
represents about 25 percent of their spending. Journals therefore
comprise just three-quarters of 1 percent of university
spending.
- The so-called "big deal" subscription is just one of a number
of service options that Elsevier offers. Our library customers can
opt to purchase any combination of journals at the point of
contract negotiation. As in any business, we do provide price
incentives based on volume, with discounts as steep as 97.5 percent
in certain instances. But it is completely up to the library to
decide to which journals it subscribes. We also provide usage
statistics for individual journals to help institutions make
informed judgments in these matters and thus better manage their
budgets.
That being said, we acknowledge that Stanford has a strong
interest and commitment in the broadest possible dissemination of
scientific work. We share that commitment. We also acknowledge that
the constraints placed on the Stanford library budgets are
perceived, potentially, to adversely affect the range of that
dissemination. We are very keen to work with Stanford, its staff
and faculty, and our authors and editors, to maximize all our
collective resources so that we are able to serve the STM community
to the best of our collective ability.
Eric Merkel-Sobotta
Director, Corporate Relations
Elsevier
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