Zero-based serials review: An objective, comprehensive method of selecting full-text journal resources in response to local needs

Walters, William H.; Markgren, Susanne

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102189

Cited by 5 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 88 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Each price accounts for any consortial discounts, negotiated institutional discounts, or deals offered by resource providers during the price-checking process. Due to price updates and corrections (e.g., resource providers who misinterpreted what we had asked for), a few of the database prices are different from those used in previous studies (Walters & Markgren, 2020. Altogether, the prices of seven full-text databases were modified by more than 5%, and smaller changes were made in the prices of six other databases.…”

Section: Compiling Price Datamentioning

confidence: 95%

“…As described in this section, the calculation of cost per wanted journal required the identification of 2717 wanted journals based on the assessments of the Manhattan College faculty; the compilation and refinement of a list of full-text journal resources that might provide access to those journals; the collection of price information for every full-text journal resource; the determination of the number of wanted journals within each resource; and the calculation of cost per wanted journal for every acquisition opportunity. These procedures correspond to steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 of the Manhattan College serials review process, which is described fully elsewhere (Walters & Markgren, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For many other colleges and universities, however, the goal is not to ensure access to every wanted journal, but to provide a collection of high-quality journals that is "good enough" for faculty and students who understand that immediate access to all the best journals is not always feasible. For example, the latest Manhattan College serials review was a deliberate attempt to obtain a critical mass of wanted journals in the most cost-effective way (Walters & Markgren, 2020). There was never any prospect of getting every wanted journal.…”

Section: Publisher Size and Journal Pricesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In two previous investigations, cost per wanted journal was calculated as the total database price divided by the number of wanted journals in the database (Walters & Markgren, 2020. All the journals in a particular database were assigned the same cost, regardless of how many articles they published.…”

Section: Calculating Cost Per Wanted Journalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, commercial publishers have the lowest average prices not just overall, but within most of the six subject areas. 7 The Manhattan College serials review incorporated a similar analysis (Walters and Markgren 2020). An iterative selection procedure was used to identify the lowest-cost wanted journals based on a comparison of all 9017 acquisition opportunities-OA journals, single-journal subscriptions, and full-text databases.…”

Section: Differences In Cost By Acquisition Mechanism Resource Provider Type and Subject Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Can differences in publisher size account for the relatively low prices of the journals available to master’s universities through commercial publishers’ databases? The importance of price discrimination and substitution effects

Walters

2022

Scientometrics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Using price quotes and invoices for thousands of full-text databases and single-journal subscriptions, this study confirms that for a typical master’s university, the journals acquired through commercial publishers’ databases cost substantially less than those acquired through the databases of scholarly societies, universities, and other nonprofits. Moreover, the lower prices of commercial publishers’ journals cannot be readily attributed to publisher size (number of journals published) or to any of several other explanatory variables. There is a weak, direct association between publisher size and price among the for-profit journals but a stronger, inverse relationship between publisher size and price among the nonprofit journals. These findings, along with the results of previous research, suggest that resource providers may have incentives to keep prices low due to the collection development strategies adopted by many teaching-oriented colleges and universities. If the library’s goal is to hold a sufficient number of high-quality journals rather than to provide immediate access to every wanted journal, particular journals and databases may be regarded as substitutes even when each product provides unique content. Many U.S. bachelor’s and master’s institutions have goals different from those of the major research universities, and commercial publishers (along with some of the larger nonprofits) seem to recognize this when setting and negotiating prices.

show abstract

Section: Compiling Price Datamentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Publisher Size and Journal Pricesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Calculating Cost Per Wanted Journalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Differences In Cost By Acquisition Mechanism Resource Provider Type and Subject Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Can differences in publisher size account for the relatively low prices of the journals available to master’s universities through commercial publishers’ databases? The importance of price discrimination and substitution effects

Walters

2022

Scientometrics

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Scholarly journals are sometimes regarded as substitutes even though each provides unique content

Walters

2022

Learned Publishing

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

most US college/university faculty.• This situation allows librarians at most universities to compare and select journals or full-text databases on the basis of their costeffectiveness or other characteristics.• Librarians who view journals as potential substitutes can behave accordingly when negotiating prices-a situation that results in price discrimination as well as competition among publishers/ vendors.• The perspectives of customers (librarians/purchasers) do not always mirror those of consumers (faculty or other end users).

show abstract

The Case for Context in Journal Evaluations

Cipkowski

Fish

2022

Serials Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Zero-based serials review: An objective, comprehensive method of selecting full-text journal resources in response to local needs

Cited by 5 publications

References 88 publications

Can differences in publisher size account for the relatively low prices of the journals available to master’s universities through commercial publishers’ databases? The importance of price discrimination and substitution effects

Can differences in publisher size account for the relatively low prices of the journals available to master’s universities through commercial publishers’ databases? The importance of price discrimination and substitution effects

Scholarly journals are sometimes regarded as substitutes even though each provides unique content

The Case for Context in Journal Evaluations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About