Evaluating big deal journal bundles

Abstract

Large commercial publishers sell bundled online subscriptions to their entire list of academic journals at prices significantly lower than the sum of their á la carte prices. Bundle prices differ drastically between institutions, but they are not publicly posted. The data that we have collected enable us to compare the bundle prices charged by commercial publishers with those of nonprofit societies and to examine the types of price discrimination practiced by commercial and nonprofit journal publishers. This information is of interest to economists who study monopolist pricing, librarians interested in making efficient use of library budgets, and scholars who are interested in the availability of the work that they publish.monopoly | bargaining | all-or-nothing price | efficiency | information technology

Could disruptive technologies also reform academia?

“…In contrast, shareholders in academic publishing, most of which operate independently of university structures, profited extremely well (Bergstrom, 2001;Van Noorden, 2013;Bergstrom et al, 2014;Buranyi, 2017).…”

“…In this way young researchers in particular can maintain their passions. In turn, institutions can lessen overhead costs associated with obtaining expensive journal bundle subscriptions or openaccess charges (Bergstrom, 2001;Bergstrom et al, 2014).…”

What ARE We Thinking? Collections Decisions in an Academic Library

“…This has proven to be true for SUNY Poly for multiple publishers such as the American Institute of Physics. Second, if the publisher is a commercial, or for-profit publisher, it is less likely that the Big Deal bundle will be a resource that is affordable long-term, and a subscription will include price increases that other libraries have found to be unsustainable in the future (Bergstrom, Courant, McAfee, & Williams, 2014). Having the following criteria in mind when contemplating subscriptions has been useful in driving the dialog with research faculty and administration in discussing how SUNY Poly will build library services typical of a research university: is the publisher for-profit and do they offer tiered pricing.…”

Asia-Pacific Science Education (APSE): expanding opportunities for publishing science education research

“…Known as "big deal" contracts, publishers sell electronic "site licenses" to libraries allowing access to specific IP addresses that ensure the rights to access journals that cannot be shared with others (Bergstrom et al 2014). In this model, the bundle prices for institutions are no longer set-meaning the cost for access to content is negotiated with each institution (Poynder 2011).…”