2020-21 Subscription Review FAQ

This year, the subscription review process will be implemented by the Western Libraries. The process, which was developed by the 2019-20 Task Force, is intended to be both recurring and sustainable. As such, ongoing implementation is the responsibility of library professionals, whose core job duties include stewarding university scholarly resources. The Task Force, having done the initial heavy lifting, has completed its charge. We are grateful to the non-library colleagues who served on this labor-intensive group, and we plan to carry their work forward without asking any more from our faculty peers.

The Subscription Task Force worked to develop the current process throughout 2019 and 2020; however, the Libraries’ Scholarly Resources Group--made up of librarians and other collections experts--began developing a new process for reviewing subscriptions as far back as early 2018. You can read a detailed timeline of how the process came to be under Review Timeline.

ILL costs are not an explicit part of the subscription review process. However, based on last year’s analysis of low-scoring subscriptions, we project that ILL will be a more affordable means of access than subscription for the majority of this year’s cancellation candidates. Estimates for the past three years put Western’s average cost per ILL transaction at approximately nine dollars. Most potential cancellations with a cost-per-use below nine dollars have scored poorly in other areas and may therefore still be worth considering for cancellation.

Throughout summer and fall, Libraries personnel collected data on Western’s hundreds of subscriptions. These data represented a blend of quantitative and qualitative criteria (detailed in the Subscription Scoring section), each of which contributed a number of points towards a resource’s final score. Librarians use the lowest-scoring resources to generate the draft cancellation list, accumulating enough titles to meet the $164,000 reduction goal plus a margin for departmental retention requests. Each subscription’s score will be included on the draft cancellation list. These scores are just the first stage in our decision-making process and will be supplemented by important qualitative feedback gathered throughout fall and winter.

The Libraries is looking at evaluation criteria in two stages. First, we are applying a variety of qualitative and quantitative criteria to generate subscription scores and the resulting preliminary draft cancellation list. You can read more about these ‘stage one’ evaluation criteria (qualitative and quantitative) under Subscription Scoring.

In addition to the criteria used to generate the initial draft cancellation list, the Libraries will be gathering extensive qualitative input from students, faculty, and staff throughout fall and winter. These criteria—which will center around what is important to you and your discipline—will supplement the stage one data and provide critical context for final cancellation decisions.

The Libraries will continue to use interlibrary loan services to provide timely access to content to which we can no longer subscribe, including the most current published research. Under typical circumstances, articles are delivered in less than a few business days, and often much faster--particularly if requestors include an ISSN with each article request. In the past, some articles have arrived within a matter of hours. While COVID-19 has slowed ILL for some resources (due to the large number of libraries that have temporarily suspended their ILL participation), Libraries personnel will still work as quickly as possible to get access to all of the content that we can.

Beyond interlibrary loan, unless we can collectively find ways to curb subscription price increases and secure funding increases for library collections, we’ll continue to struggle with subscription access to the research we need. Talk to your Senate Library Committee, University Planning and Resources Council, and Faculty Senate representatives about scholarly publishing, Open Access, and library funding.

Inflation on library subscriptions averages 4.5 percent annually. Without additional funding, the Resource Access Budget cannot accommodate these increases--let alone faculty requests for new journals or databases.

Almost all subscriptions--including single journals, journal and ebook packages, and databases--are theoretically eligible for cancellation. The only exceptions are new subscriptions within their three-year “grace period,” decision package subscriptions within their three-year “grace period,” and journal packages and databases on multi-year contracts that do not expire until 2023 or beyond. These subscriptions will be evaluated after three years or as they come up for renewal.

Historically, the Libraries has maintained a separate budget line for decision package funding (and subscriptions) for three years. During that three-year grace period, subscriptions are protected from cancellation regardless of cost-per-use. However, starting the fourth year, decision package funds are subsumed into the main subscriptions budget line and any decision package subscriptions become subject to regular review alongside other subscriptions. This year, we have a small handful of decision package-funded subscriptions that will not be reviewed until 2023-24.

The same is true of new subscriptions: they are typically given a three-year grace period for use (and other data trends) to accrue. Following last year’s subscription review process, we have a small handful of new subscriptions that will not be reviewed until 2023-24.

Usage statistics are provided to the Libraries by most (though not all) publishers and vendors.

Many vendors provide usage reports that adhere to a standardized format (called COUNTER), detailing the number of full-text downloads (for journal articles), full-text section requests (e-books), searches and results clicks (databases), or multimedia content unit requests (streaming media). These standard metrics allow for relatively straightforward comparisons among subscriptions of the same format type.

Other vendors provide non-standard usage reports, which are incorporated as best as possible into existing library workflows and analysis.

Three-year CPU is equal to cost (each title’s most recent calendar year unit price as established by the publisher) multiplied by three, then divided by use (total number of uses over the past three calendar years). For journals, one use is equivalent to a single full-text article download (in either PDF or HTML format).

The Libraries subscribes to several full-text databases, such as Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, and ProQuest Newsstand. Western also owns perpetual access rights to JSTOR’s Life Sciences collection as well as over 85% of the JSTOR Arts & Sciences collections. These article databases offer access to the full text of many journals, magazines, and newspapers.

In some cases, full-text article databases are not an exact substitute for a full journal subscription. Coverage may not include every article, letters to the editor, book review, or graphic (illustrations, charts, or maps). Western can provide access to this content via ILL or per-article purchasing, however. Additionally, many of the journals included in these types of databases have “embargo periods.” This means that the publisher of an embargoed title does not allow the database to release the full-text content for a predetermined length of time. Typically, databases are useful for accessing content older than 5 years.

Students, faculty, and staff will be invited to review potential cancellations in February and submit any retention requests via individual survey. Individuals will not be limited to a fixed number of requests; however, everyone should keep in mind that the Libraries has a relatively narrow margin with which to meet retention requests across the entire university. The Libraries cannot guarantee that feedback will lead to reinstatement. Additionally, due to the make-up of the cancellation list--which includes titles from a number of large publisher packages—the Libraries may be constrained in terms of what is actually feasible. Individuals will be asked to rank their retention requests in priority order, with 1 being the highest-priority request.

If a journal is used regularly as part of instruction, the usage should reflect that curricular need. To make sure your students’ use is counted, always provide access to course readings via course reserves or a permanent link embedded in Canvas—not by sharing the PDF. The Libraries Course Reserve staff can help you add library resources to Canvas.

No. The Libraries will continue to identify effective means of providing books (and other owned resources with one-time costs) to its users.

As part of the cancellation review process this year, individuals may request new subscriptions instead of (or in addition to) requesting titles for retention. New subscriptions should be ranked alongside retention requests.

Support open access and contribute a pre- or post-publication version of your scholarly work to Western CEDAR, the university’s institutional repository. In this way, your scholarship and creative activity will be available at Western and worldwide. CEDAR is a service of Western Libraries in partnership with the Graduate School, the Office of the Provost, and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. By showcasing Western’s scholarly and creative works, CEDAR facilitates global discovery and promotes open access and sustainable scholarly communication. Robust participation in open access by scholars worldwide is the best long-term approach to help transform current, publisher-controlled scholarly communication models.

Learn more about journal pricing and inflation.

Be aware of publisher policies regarding authors’ retention of copyright. Insist on the right to self-archive your work in CEDAR or other open access repository. Contact westerncedar@wwu.edu to learn how to retain your rights.

Consider publishing with professional associations, societies, and other organizations that employ effective, sustainable means of distributing scholarly information. If you serve on the executive or editorial board of a scholarly society, encourage the organization to publish its journal(s) open access.

The subscription prices of scholarly journals have been increasing at a rate faster than inflation for several decades. For many years, Western Libraries has sought to manage subscription inflation on behalf of the university by employing a combination of efforts. Whenever possible, the Libraries has used carryforward funds to pay for inflationary increases. These one-time funds are not a stable or secure source of funding for recurring expenses, and there is not always enough to cover costs. In FY16, carryforward was insufficient to cover costs, and it became necessary to cut approx. $230,000 in subscription costs.

In FY17, FY18, FY19, and FY20, library carryforward funds largely covered the shortfall, but due to the rate of inflation, the size of the shortfall grew progressively larger each year. In FY21 we projected a budget shortfall of approx. $330,000, which precipitated the 2019-20 subscription reduction process. Moving forward, the Libraries is working actively with the Provost’s Office to explore sustained mitigation strategies. However, without sustained financial solutions to cover FY22 deficits and beyond, we project a need for reductions as high as $164,000 for FY22 and roughly $80,000-90,000 in FY23, FY24, and onward.

This is not the first time we have faced this situation, and unfortunately, it will not be the last. Utilizing a variety of communications and governance channels over the past seven years Western Libraries has engaged with faculty, staff, students, and administrators about the growing subscription crisis and the need for additional funds. In addition, the Libraries has appealed to UPRC and the Provost’s Office each year for annual funding increases. Despite repeated requests to decision makers and shared governance groups, no recurring increases to the collections budget have resulted from the university’s biennial or supplemental budgeting processes.

Since 2014, the only increases to library collections have come from the irregular addition of decision package funds – almost exclusively devoted to STEM fields. The Libraries has worked with impacted departments to expend these additional resources on new titles and has utilized a portion of the decision package funding to help offset inflationary increases in those fields. Decision package funds were not purposed nor are they sufficient to deal with the inflation crisis.

Historically, the Libraries has maintained a separate budget line for decision package funding (and subscriptions) for three years. During that three-year grace period, subscriptions are protected from cancellation regardless of cost-per-use. However, starting the fourth year, decision package funds are subsumed into the main subscriptions budget line and any decision package subscriptions become subject to regular review alongside other subscriptions. This year, there are no decision package subscriptions still in their three-year grace period, so all subscriptions are up for review.

University-imposed spending reductions in FY21 did not impact the collections budget. The required reductions were made exclusively to operational expenses, specifically salary and benefits. At the present time, it is too early to predict whether there will be permanent budget cuts in the FY21-23 biennium or the extent of those cuts. Library Administration is monitoring the state and university budgeting processes closely and will advocate strongly to fully fund library collections, programs, and services. We will update students, faculty, and staff of any impacts to the library collections or operations budgets when more information is known later this academic year. We welcome continued advocacy from the university community to fund the Libraries adequately.

Inflation on library subscriptions averages 4.5 percent annually. Without additional funding, the Resource Access Budget cannot accommodate these increases--let alone faculty requests for new journals or databases.

Ultimately, regular increases to the subscription budget are one important element in managing this crisis. Western Libraries will continue to work with colleagues outside of the Libraries to advocate strongly for these increases. But money alone is not enough. The chart below illustrates the estimated, cumulative cost to Western for subscription inflation between FY21 and FY25.

Western Libraries has long recognized that the current scholarly publishing landscape is unsustainable for colleges and universities, and alternate publishing models must be found. To advance open access as an alternative to commercial publishing models, in 2014 the Libraries partnered with the Provost’s Office and Graduate School/RSP to support open access to faculty research, the publications produced by Western institutes and centers, and several peer-reviewed journals.

Western cannot change scholarly publishing on its own or overnight. It must join with universities and other research institutions worldwide to offer respected open access alternatives to commercial publishers. A large percentage of researchers must adopt these open access alternatives in order to change the behavior of commercial publishers.

To learn more about journal pricing and inflation, read the latest Library Journal periodicals price survey.

Despite strong advocacy for budget increases, it is unlikely that the university will find the approx. $2.8 million necessary to cover subscription deficits for the next five years. A combination of steps are necessary to bring the subscription budget under control:

• Continued advocacy for annual base budget increases to help pay the increasing cost of library collections
• Use of Western Libraries and/or Academic Affairs carry forward funds, when available, to mitigate the need for reductions
• Greater emphasis on consortial purchasing, negotiation, and advocacy via the Orbis Cascade Alliance and State of Washington in order to reduce subscription costs
• Regular evaluation of library collections to help ensure that subscriptions and other acquisitions are effectively meeting current and emerging curricular and research needs
• Prudent use of an agile and access-based approach to collections, including ILL and document-delivery, if/when costs exceed the available budget
• Limiting Western’s business relationship with commercial publishers that impose excessive price increases in order to maximize profit margins
• Expanding use of alternative scholarly publishing models, including increased faculty participation in Western CEDAR and publication in open access journals
• Subscription reductions when the above steps are insufficient

Subscription reductions are extremely upsetting for the Western Libraries’ faculty, staff, and administrators. We would much rather grow the depth and breadth of library collections. We recognize the serious negative impacts on faculty and students across the university. We understand that you, too, would like to see library subscriptions and other collections grow not shrink.

Western Libraries wants to work closely with faculty and university administration to find lasting solutions to the subscription crisis. At this time, it appears unlikely that library subscriptions will be saved from deep cuts this year or next. If there is no increase in funding from the university in FY22 or beyond, we will be forced to make further subscription reductions. If this is the case, it will become particularly important that we turn our attention to long-term solutions that avoid subsequent reductions.

The vision of our university calls on each of us to advance the ideals of exploration, critical thinking, connection, and creativity. Collectively, we seek to provide a transformational educational experience for our students, grounded in innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity; as well as justice and equity in our policies, practices, and impacts. Through these efforts, we hope to address the world’s most challenging problems, questions, and needs. The heart of the Western Libraries’ mission is one and the same: to advance these goals, connecting people to the resources, expertise, and spaces necessary for impactful teaching and lifelong learning, while advancing equitable and inclusive access to information in all its forms.

In this spirit, the Western Libraries continues to move forward in new directions, favoring broad access to information over more traditional models of ownership, challenging the narrative that knowledge can be owned, and seeking ways to keep information open to the community where it can best serve the greater good. We are not alone in these efforts: libraries around the world are pushing for a more sustainable, open, and just approach to information.