Scholarly Publication at Risk

The Issues

Scholars write and review research papers, then pay to read them.
Scholarly publishing has become an international, multi-billion dollar business.
Ongoing consolidation of the publishing industry is squeezing out competition.
Scholars are not in control of the scholarly communication system.

From 1995 to 2004, medical journal prices rose 108%. Over the same 10-year period the cost of U.S. health care increased by approximately 39%.
A one-year subscription to some journals costs as much as a new car.
Publishers often charge much more for the online version of print resources. For example, the online version of JAMA for the UCSF campus costs the Library 500% more than the print version.
At the same time that prices have been increasing, there has been a proliferation of new journals.

As journal prices outpace budget increases, scholars risk losing access to important journals. The Library cancelled the print version of journals with online access in 2003 and 2004 (PDF), and cancelled many print-only journals in 2005.
In 2006, 2007, and 2008, we cut print subscriptions to a small number of journals that are also available online. View proposed cancellations for 2009.
The Library is unable to purchase new subscriptions for many requested journals.