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Elsevier's 2007 Journal Prices
The following letter regarding Elsevier's journal prices for next
year has now been sent to Elsevier customers. Please feel free to
contact your Account Manager with any questions.
Kind regards,
Daviess Menefee
Library Relations
_______________________
6 July 2006
Dear Librarian:
Over the course of the year I, along with many Elsevier staff,
speak with our customers about a range of issues facing scholarly
communications in general, and individual institutions as well.
It is our aim to take these discussions and convert them into
actions to serve you better. I know from my conversations that
pricing remains one of the key issues for librarians and
publishers, along with good communication, customer service, and
archiving. I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about
the initiatives we have put in place to address your concerns.
First, let's start with pricing. The average price increase for
Elsevier journals in 2007 will be 5.5% averaged across our
journals. We understand that libraries face significant budget
challenges and for the last six years our price increases have
been well below the industry average. As a point of reference,
the average increase in 2006 across all STM publishers was 8.1%
in Europe, and 9.82% in the US.* The 5.5% figure is, of course,
an average across our titles, so please bear in mind that the
cost for your institution's print collection will depend on your
particular mix of titles and that electronic subscription fee
changes, if any, will depend on the terms of your ScienceDirect
contract. Also note that Elsevier is discontinuing package
pricing for a few titles previously available only within
predefined bundles, making all of our print journals available
individually in 2007.
In the area of communication, you asked for more clarity on
product and contact information. We've now posted a complete
list of new or changed titles , which is updated regularly on
info.sciencedirect.com, along with email/RSS alerts, ensuring
notification prior to new/changed titles being loaded on
ScienceDirect. As in the past, our new 2007 print price list
will be posted on Elsevier.com in August, with pricing tables now
also available for several additional content options such as
backfiles and books. And to help you find the right person to
contact, we've launched a convenient online directory at
http://contacts.elsevier.com/. We'd appreciate any feedback you
have.
Last year, I told you that Elsevier was focusing on putting
customer service at the heart of everything we do. We want to
measure how we're doing, so since January 2005 we have surveyed
over 8,400 customers worldwide. While there is still room to do
better, I'm pleased that your feedback indicates that our
customer service is improving. Eighteen months into the program,
satisfaction ratings have increased in six categories and
customers now rank Elsevier higher than our competitors in seven
out of ten service categories, including sales representatives,
account development, and sales support. Be assured that we will
continue to improve in these areas, as well as in the critical
areas of collections, invoicing, and contracts. I would like to
express my thanks for the direction you have given to us.
Customers have also provided invaluable input into our product
development, in particular for the redesign of ScienceDirect,
which will be launched in August 2006. The redesign features
user interface enhancements, streamlined browsing and searching,
and additional personalization features that will reduce the time
to do common tasks by up to 80%. We hope you will find the new
ScienceDirect to be further evidence of our commitment to
developing electronic tools that improve the productivity of
those we serve. Further information will be forthcoming through
direct communications like this one, as well as our product
newsletters and Library Connect.
The worldwide library community continues to focus attention on
digital archiving. In addition to Elsevier's internal archives
and our official archive with Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB), the
National Library of the Netherlands, we have signed a second
agreement in late 2005 with the U.S.-based non-profit
organization Portico. As of January this year, we are also
participating as a sponsor of the two-year beta test of CLOCKSS,
a library-based distributed archiving system.
These are just a sample of the many initiatives implemented in
response to your feedback. On behalf of Elsevier, thank you for
the time you have dedicated to helping us improve. In my
discussions with you, it is evident that we share a common vision
of advancing scholarly communications and I believe that we will
achieve even more working together. I encourage you to stay in
close contact with your account manager and share your feedback,
ideas, and opinions.
Sincerely,
Frank Vrancken Peeters
Global Sales Director, Elsevier
The average increase was 8.1% across all STM publishers in Europe, and 9.82%
in the US. This places Elsevier's 5.5% price increase in 2006 within the
lowest quartile of publishers' average price increases when institutional
journal price data, taken from official publisher price lists, is compared
for 2005 and 2006.