Journal bundling
From Eureka
Journal bundling is a strategy employed by publishers in which subscriptions are grouped into large all-or-nothing packages. This prevents libraries from saving money by ceasing to subscribe to a single journal. It's a clever trap, especially because these bundled subscriptions look like a good deal at first. The cost becomes apparent only later, as the prices rise. When the annual price rise of a bundled subscription passes the subscribing library’s annual materials budget increase, the bundle must claim an larger share of the library’s spending. To offset the increased cost of the bundle, the library typically cancels journal subscriptions from smaller publishers.
As of 2001, five major bundles were:
(In 2007, Wiley merged with Blackwell.)
The Information Access Alliance is seeking antitrust intervention to tackle the problem of journal bundling. See the article Elsevier for other attempts to fight against bundling by Elsevier.
External links
Information Access Alliance, What is "bundling" and what harm does it do?
Jonathan Nabe, E-journal bundling and its impact on academic libraries: some early results, 2001.
Chris Lee, "Editorial: publishing economics harm science's credibility" (20 November 2008), Ars Technica.
