JISC Collections has published a guide titled 'Society Journal Publishing: Problems Associated with Journals Transferring Between Publishers - Guidelines to Help Achieve a Successful Transition'. The guide seeks to address the issues related to the transfer of journal titles among publishers.
Each year significant numbers of journal titles are transferred to different publishers. Often, this is as a result of learned and professional societies making decisions to switch from one publishing partner to another, or to relinquish their in-house publishing arrangements. It is estimated that some 3,400 scholarly and research titles have transferred between publishers since the beginning of 2009.
A frequent unintended consequence of these transfers, it has been observed, is a range of practical problems for both libraries and scholars. These problems can include readers experiencing loss of access (temporary or fairly lengthy) to key society journal content, at the start of the new subscription year, and libraries facing new or different pricing models and unexpectedly high subscription price increases. Often, insufficient information is sent to librarians about the transfers, leaving librarians unclear about a number of issues, for example, the timing of the transfers, ongoing access arrangements, and detailed information on titles that are covered. There may also be uncertainty amongst librarians about arrangements for access to previous years of journal content, and their rights for perpetual access to years where subscriptions have been cancelled.
In an attempt to reduce the problems, librarians and publishers have worked together in recent years to develop and implement the industry-wide TRANSFER Code of Practice. This initiative has reportedly been successful in improving the situation, but problems still exist.
JISC Collections, an organisation looking to facilitate access to electronic information resources across UK universities and colleges, has published its guide to provide further help in addressing the problem. The guide for societies outlines the nature of, and reasons for, the problems and suggests ways in which societies could help. This includes a checklist of key 'transfer' issues societies could consider using in their discussions with publishers when exploring new publishing partnerships.
As part of the preparation for the guide, JISC Collections undertook an online survey of librarians on the topic of journal transfers and a report on the findings of the survey can be seen at:
http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Documents/Journal%20Transfers%20Survey%20Results%20vers%204,%2025.4.11.doc
The guide is accessible at the JISC Collections website:
http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/jtransferpaper
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