Preisanstieg med. Zeitschriften: eine Katastrophe

Oliver Obst (obsto@uni-muenster.de)
Fri, 29 Nov 1996 09:03:56 +0100


Message-Id: <199611290804.JAA103430@mail.uni-muenster.de>
From: "Oliver Obst" <obsto@uni-muenster.de>
To: medibib-l@MEDSUN08.uni-muenster.de
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 09:03:56 +0100
Subject: Preisanstieg med. Zeitschriften: eine Katastrophe

Liebe Medizinbibliothekare!

"Dieser saugende Ton, den Sie gerade hoeren, stammt von den Verlagen,
die Ihren Zeitschriftenetat aussaugen."

Und nicht nur den Zeitschriftenetat, auch der Monographien-Etat hat
unter den _dramatischen_ Preissteigerungen zu leiden. Wir haben einen
durchschnittlichen Anstieg von 18% (!) von 1996 auf 1997!

Frage: Wollen die Verleger (oder besser: bestimmte Verleger wie
Elsevier, s.u.) uns - Ihre bislang finanzkraeftigste und treueste
Klientel - bis aufs Hemd auspluendern!?

Antwort: ?

Ein notwendiges Vorspiel, damit wir uns uns auf deren Knebelvertraege
einlassen mit garantierter Preissteigerung von x% bei Festlegung des
Abos auf y Jahre ?!?

In solch einer Situation moechte man David Morse(s.u.) nur allzu
gerne zustimmen: Einfach die Titel mit den hoechsten Preisen und
Preissteigerungen abbestellen, damit die Verleger endlich mal
kapieren, dass es so nicht weiter geht! Aber wahrscheinlich ist dies
auch zu einfach und zu blauaeugig. Ganz abgesehen davon, dass die
Preisspirale (gibt es die ueberhaupt?) sich noch schneller dreht
wenn alle dieselben Titel abbestellen (nach einem math. Model, das
kuerzlich in JASIS veroeffentlicht wurde).

Gibt es keine Alternative zum leidigen Abbestellen von Titeln??

Mit frustrierten Gruessen, O.Obst

P.S.: Unsere "allerliebsten" Titel:

Anticancer Research von 828 auf 1329 + 60,5%
Medical and pediatric oncology von 1483 auf 2119 + 42,9%
Journal of cellular biochemistry von 3982 auf 5203 + 30,7%
Anatomical record von 3652 auf 4644 + 27,2%
European Journal of pharmacology von 9393 auf 11370 + 21,0%

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54.1 DISCUSSION: 1997 JOURNAL PRICE INCREASES
From: The Editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>

THAT SUCKING SOUND YOU HEAR ...

That sucking sound you hear is the sound of your 1997 journals budget being
sucked down the drain by publishers. The analysis below shows increases on
those titles costing over $1500 from the major publishers. It's not a pretty
picture, with increases averaging around 14% or higher. It's especially
discouraging that the Elsevier increases are so steep, given the fact that the
U.S. dollar increased in value relative to the Dutch guilder by about 7% between
mid-1995 and mid-1996. (Note the comparatively laudable restraint exercised by
Springer-Verlag.)

Our only recourse here, as usual, is to initiate another round of
cancellations. I do, however, intend to make clear to these publishers that
cancellations will be targeted to those publishers who are causing the problem.
The only way publishers are going to think twice about increases like these is
if they understand that they will result in cancellations of THEIR titles, not
somebody else's.

In discussions with some publishers, I have heard that one cause of the price
increases is the heavy investment being made in electronic publication. While
understandable, the net result will still be that subscriber bases will dwindle
further, resulting in a fatal spiral of further price increases and further
cancellations. I am slowly coming to the view that ANY title costing over $1500
is "at risk" for this sort of implosion.

What do the rest of you think?

ANALYSIS OF PUBLISHER PRICE INCREASES 1996 TO 1997
FOR ALL NORRIS TITLES COSTING OVER $1500

[I have used the best figures available to me for 96 and 97 prices; I would be
happy to be corrected if any of you have better figures for these titles.]

PUBLISHER TITLE COST96 COST97 RISE

ACADEMIC ANALYTICAL BIOCHEMISTRY 1840 2100 14%
ACADEMIC ARCHIVES OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSIC 1900 2295 21%
ACADEMIC BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH C 1562 2100 34%
ACADEMIC CELLULAR IMMUNOLOGY 1550 1795 16%
ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2036 2350 15%
ACADEMIC EXPERIMENTAL CELL RESEARCH 1825 2125 16%
ACADEMIC JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY 1895 2268 20%
ACADEMIC VIROLOGY 1600 1995 25%

14208 17028
ACADEMIC :AVERAGE 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 20%
OVERALL 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 20%

ELSEVIER ADVANCED DRUG DELIVERY REVIEWS 2000 2120 6%
ELSEVIER ATHEROSCLEROSIS 2098 2496 19%
ELSEVIER BEHAVIOURAL BRAIN RESEARCH 1557 2835 82%
ELSEVIER BIOCHEMICAL PHARMACOLOGY 3500 3950 13%
ELSEVIER BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 8837 10528 19%
ELSEVIER BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 1720 2182 27%
ELSEVIER BRAIN RESEARCH 12234 14919 22%
ELSEVIER BRAIN RESEARCH BULLETIN 1850 2128 15%
ELSEVIER CANCER GENETICS AND CYTOGENETICS 1695 1898 12%
ELSEVIER CANCER LETTERS 2019 2969 47%
ELSEVIER CHEMICO-BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS 1684 1684 0%
ELSEVIER CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS OF LIPIDS 1422 1611 13%
ELSEVIER CLINICA CHIMICA ACTA 3085 3674 19%
ELSEVIER COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOG 6495 7398 14%
ELSEVIER EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY 2581 2560 -1%
ELSEVIER EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY 5680 6431 13%
ELSEVIER FEBS LETTERS 3573 3720 4%
ELSEVIER GENE 5069 6144 21%
ELSEVIER IMMUNOLOGY LETTERS 1710 1954 14%
ELSEVIER INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICS 3915 4691 20%
ELSEVIER INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RADIATION ONC 1850 2150 16%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS 1464 1673 14%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY 7861 9414 20%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE 1375 1852 35%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGICAL METHODS 3032 3741 23%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 3204 3283 2%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF NEUROIMMUNOLOGY 2454 3094 26%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES 1888 2217 17%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE METHODS 2049 2622 28%
ELSEVIER JOURNAL OF VIROLOGICAL METHODS 1767 2019 14%
ELSEVIER LIFE SCIENCE 2750 3170 15%
ELSEVIER MECHANISMS OF DEVELOPMENT 1571 2182 39%
ELSEVIER MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR ENDOCRINOLOGY 2291 2831 24%
ELSEVIER MUTATION RESEARCH 5862 7378 26%
ELSEVIER NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS 3753 4322 15%
ELSEVIER PEPTIDES 1250 1562 25%
ELSEVIER PHARMACOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS 2265 2605 15%
ELSEVIER PHARMACOLOGY, BIOCHEMISTRY, AND BEHAVI 1825 2190 20%
ELSEVIER PHYSIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 1750 1995 14%
ELSEVIER PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH 1280 1953 53%
ELSEVIER REGULATORY PEPTIDES 1877 2143 14%
ELSEVIER TOXICOLOGY 2394 2959 24%
ELSEVIER TOXICOLOGY LETTERS 1792 2258 26%

130328 155505
ELSEVIER :AVERAGE 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 21%
OVERALL 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 19%

KARGER ACTA ANATOMICA 1510 1676 11%
KARGER CYTOGENETICS AND CELL GENETICS 1557 1763 13%
KARGER INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF ALLERGY & (A 1540 1676 9%

4607 5115
KARGER :AVERAGE 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 11%
OVERALL 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 11%

PERGAMON EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CANCER 1775 1814 2%
PERGAMON INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY 1567 1741 11%
PERGAMON JOURNAL OF STEROID BIOCHEMISTRY (AND M 2225 2499 12%
PERGAMON MOLECULAR IMMUNOLOGY 1567 1856 18%
PERGAMON NEUROPHARMACOLOGY 1282 1693 32%
PERGAMON NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA 1155 1546 34%
PERGAMON NEUROSCIENCE 4001 4543 14%
PERGAMON PROGRESS IN NEUROBIOLOGY 1557 1749 12%
PERGAMON SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE 2139 2447 14%
PERGAMON THROMBOSIS RESEARCH 1829 2059 13%
PERGAMON VISION RESEARCH 1895 1895 0%

20992 23842
PERGAMON :AVERAGE 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 15%
OVERALL 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 14%

SPRINGER ANATOMY AND EMBRYOLOGY 2336 2526 8%
SPRINGER CANCER CHEMOTHERAPHY AND PHARMACOLOGY 1851 1961 6%
SPRINGER CELL AND TISSUE RESEARCH 3639 4017 10%
SPRINGER EXPERIMENTAL BRAIN RESEARCH 3634 4018 11%
SPRINGER HISTOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY 2136 2357 10%
SPRINGER HUMAN GENETICS 2802 2876 3%
SPRINGER JOURNAL OF CANCER RESEARCH AND CLINICA 1651 1750 6%
SPRINGER MOLECULAR AND GENERAL GENETICS 3232 3292 2%
SPRINGER PFLUGERS ARCHIV 2236 2468 10%
SPRINGER PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY 3168 3267 3%
SPRINGER VIRCHOWS ARCHIV 1800 1892 5%
SPRINGER VIRUS RESEARCH 1698 1937 14%

30183 32361
SPRINGER :AVERAGE 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 7%
OVERALL 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 7%

WILEY AMERICAN JOURNAL INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE 1571 1748 11%
WILEY AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL GENETICS 3990 4430 11%
WILEY ANATOMICAL RECORD 2544 2720 7%
WILEY CELL MOTILITY AND THE CYTOSKELETON 1380 1616 17%
WILEY DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS 1488 1664 12%
WILEY JOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY 2185 2604 19%
WILEY JOURNAL OF CELLULAR PHYSIOLOGY 2592 2900 12%
WILEY JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY 9568 10056 5%
WILEY JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY 1488 1664 12%
WILEY JOURNAL OF NEUROBIOLOGY 1272 1518 19%
WILEY JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH 2904 3500 21%

30982 34420
WILEY :AVERAGE 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 13%
OVERALL 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 11%

TOTAL OVERALL 96 TO 97 INCREASE: 14%