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Study Identifies Factors That Could Lead to Cancelled Subscriptions
NEWS RELEASE
Bob Campbell, Publishing Research Consortium
Tel: +44 (0)1865 476118
Robert.Campbell@oxon.blackwellpublishing.com
Chris Beckett, Scholarly Information Strategies
Tel: +44 (0)1865 812058
chris@scholinfo.com
Study Identifies Factors That Could Lead to Cancelled
Subscriptions
London, United Kingdom- November 9, 2006 -A major study of
librarian purchasing preferences has revealed the factors that
could prompt a librarian to substitute Open Access materials for
journal subscriptions. According to a study commissioned by the
Publishing Research Consortium, the length of the embargo period
and peer review are key determinants in a librarian's decision to
maintain or cancel journal subscriptions.
This study raises questions about previous claims that librarians
will continue to subscribe to journals, even when some or all of
the content is freely available on institutional archives.
"Overall, librarians are very sensitive to quality, how quickly
the content is made available, the version of the content, and
content cost", said Chris Beckett, Director, Scholarly
Information Strategies Limited. "As a result of our work, we can
simulate how these different factors interact and what effect
different combinations of factors have on the relative appeal of
subscription journals, licensed databases, and content on Open
Access archives."
The study, conducted by Scholarly Information Strategies in July
2006, surveyed over 400 librarians internationally. As well as
collecting their general attitudes to open access, conjoint
analysis was employed to identify the relative importance of
specific decision-making factors such as price, embargo period,
article version, and reliability of access. This approach avoids
selection bias and produced data models that show the likely
impact on subscription or cancellation behavior under different
market scenarios. The model outputs can be highly useful for
developing products, understanding price sensitivity and
examining other practical issues.
"Because most content is delivered to the research community via
libraries, it is critical to understand how librarians make
decisions," said Bob Campbell, Chairman, Steering Group of the
Publishing Research Consortium and President, Blackwell
Publishing. "This study will help publishers better analyze and
evaluate how alternative acquisition methods might impact how
they sell journal subscriptions to librarians."
The full report of the study, "Self-Archiving and Journal
Subscriptions: Co-existence or Competition?" can be accessed on
the PRC site at <http://www.publishingresearch.org.uk/>
About the Publishing Research Consortium
The Publishing Research Consortium is a group representing
publishers and societies supporting global research into
scholarly communication, with the aim to provide unbiased data
and objective analysis. Our objective is to support work that is
scientific and pro-scholarship. Overall, we aim to promote an
understanding of the role of publishing and its impact on
research and teaching. For more information, visit
<http://www.publishingresearch.org.uk/> .
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