ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ Ju n e 2000 / 515 SCH O LARLY COM M UNICATION Create change Shaping the future of scholarly journal publishing by Ray English and Larry Hardesty I t’s time for change. It’s time to act collectively and constructively to help solve one o f the most pressing problems facing the aca demic community. It’s essential that you be involved. H ere’s a concrete exam ple that illustrates the problem. In 1985, an annual library sub scription to the J o u rn a l o f Comparative N eu rology cost $1,920. Today the price is $15,000! W hat’s happened to this journal betw een 1985 and 2000? Its size did increase som ewhat, but that factor does not account for the price in crease.1 The most significant difference is the fact that a large commercial publisher pur chased the journal in 1990. Since then, the subscription price has g o ne up relentlessly, sometimes by more than $2,000 in a single year. By now you know the problem w e’re talk ing about. We librarians call it the “serials cri sis.” Many academic administrators and fac ulty have tended to think of it as “the library problem ”— and som e have even blam ed it on us. In reality it is a higher education issue that can be resolved only by engaging the entire higher education community. Think with us for a mom ent about the struc ture o f commercial journal publishing that has evolved over time. Universities and colleges literally give research to commercial publish ers w ho then, in exchange for our generosity, charge us exorbitant prices to receive it in published journal form. Commercial journals rely on faculty and other researchers for virtu ally all of the substantive content and editorial w ork related to production of their titles. Fac ulty submit articles, transfer copyright to the publishers, participate in the system of peer review, and edit the journals’ content. Univer sities and colleges cooperate in this process through their support o f faculty research and their tenure and promotion expectations. While no one w ould object to this arrangem ent if publishers charged reasonable prices and made reasonable profits, many publishers have taken advantage o f the position of libraries in the current system. The exam ple o f the Jo u rn a l o f Compara tive Neurology is hardly unique. Commercial publishers have increased journal prices at extraordinary rates and they are realizing profit margins that go far beyond w hat could other wise be justified by the nature o f their prod uct. Over the years w e ’ve tried various tactics to deal with this problem. We’ve written angry letters to publishers and editors and had heated debates with publishers’ representatives. We’ve canceled subscriptions and w atched our book budgets erode. We’ve looked to alternative means o f information delivery and w e ’ve e n tered into consortial agreem ents for electronic access. For all our efforts, serial prices con tinue to rise at unjustified and destructive rates.2 A b o u t t h e a uthors Ray English is director o f libraries at Oberlin College and a member o f the SPARC Steering Committee, e-mail: ray. english@oberlin.edu; Larry Hardesty is college librarian at Austin College and is the current president o f ACRL, e-mail: lhardesty@a ustinc. edu mailto:english@oberlin.edu mailto:lhardesty@austinc.edu 5 1 6 / C&RL N ew s ■ Ju n e 2000 Edito rs’ introduction As we noted in our introduction to this column, changes in scholarly communication have generated widespread discussion and debate. Much of this discussion has taken place between librarians and publishers. Faculty, researchers, and editorial board members may not be aware o f the broader issues be yond their own publications or disciplines. As lea d ers in o u r p ro fe s sio n , Larry Hardesty and Ray English ask us all to show leadership by making changes in the schol­ arly communication system, starting on our own campuses. They introduce us to Create Change, a program sponsored by ACRL, Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coali tion (SPARC) that will support us all in work ing with faculty, researchers, editorial board members, and campus administrators to bring about positive changes in the scholarly com munication system. — Ivy A n d erson , G a il McMillan, a n d A n n C. S c h a ffn e r This situation will change only if colleges and universities mobilize concerted and force ful action to take back control of the research produced under their auspices. To accomplish that objective, we need your active involve ment and leadership. The C reate Change Initiative ACRL, ARL, and SPARC have launched a na tional initiative designed to engage college and university faculty and administrators in work ing to reshape the system of scholarly journal publishing. The “Create Change” campaign, which is sponsored by the three organizations in equal partnership, is a broad-based effort to stimulate campus discussion on the nature and origins of the scholarly communication crisis and to make faculty and administrators aware o f the options available to them for in fluencing the future o f scholarly journal pub lishing. Since the level of awareness o f scholarly communications issues among faculty and ad ministrators is at best uneven, the basic strat egy o f Create Change is to encourage and sup port individual libraries in coordinating com munication and discussion at the campus level. Create Change provides resources and tools that libraries can draw on and adapt to the needs of their institutions. In addition to positioning libraries to hold public events— such as panel discussions or talks by outside speakers— Create Change pro vides supporting information for small- group discussions and one-on-one contact with fac ulty. Although printed materials are available for distribution, the key to the success o f the campaign at the campus level involves per sonal contacts between librarians, faculty, and administrators. That’s where you come in. The goals o f Create Change are to make faculty and administrators aware o f the most important aspects o f the serials issue, to in troduce faculty to specific ways in which they can foster change, and to support and en courage potential faculty leaders in this area. Create Change will build a base o f under standing o f the issues and offer options for action: • Editorial boards will be provided with resources to decide whether to move from ex pensive commercial publishers to nonprofit or independent publishing arrangements. • Individual faculty can evaluate whether to resign from editorial boards of expensive commercial journals. • Faculty can decide whether to serve as peer-reviewers for expensive titles. • Faculty who choose to modify copyright transfer agreements to allow them to retain most rights to their publications will be given templates and models. • Faculty will have information and tools for engaging in discussion o f this set of issues A b o u t th e e d it o r s Ivy Anderson is coordinator for Digital Acquisitions a t Harvard University, e-mail: ivy_anderson@harvard.edu; Gail McMillan is hea d o f the Digital Library a n d Archives (form erly the Scholarly Communications Project) at Virginia Tech University, e-mail: gailm ac@ vt.edu; A n n S ch a ffn e r is associate u niversity librarian fo r R esearch Services, Instruction & Planning a t Brandeis University, e-mail: schaffne@brandeis.edu mailto:ivy_anderson@harvard.edu mailto:gailmac@vt.edu mailto:schaffne@brandeis.edu C&RL News ■ June 2 0 0 0 / 517 with peers in their departments and in their scholarly society meetings. Create Change aims ultimately to initiate a shift in control o f scholarly journal publishing, moving research from inordinately expensive commercial journals that no longer serve the interests o f the scholarly community to non profit and independent publishers, such as university presses, scholarly associations, and small presses. As the exam ple o f Michael Rosenzw eig’s journal Evolutionary Ecology Research dramatically demonstrates, such a shift can have a direct, positive effect on jour nal prices.1 Information and support for libraries What happens first? In early June, library di rectors will have received a mailing about Cre ate Change. The mailing provides an overview o f the initiative, its goals and suggested strate gies, as well as a list o f resources that are avail able to support a campus communications ef fort. Individual libraries may draw on the “Cre ate Change Advocacy Kit,” which is available on the Web for downloading and customizing for local use at www.createchange.org. The kit provides information that prepares librar ians to communicate with faculty and admin istrators on the serials issue. Tools in the kit include: 1) a list o f frequently asked questions and other background information on the se rials crisis, 2) sample materials for use in pre sentations, 3) tables, charts, and g illustrate scholarly communication issues, 4) sample letters to send with supporting materi als to faculty, 5) a summary o f available advo cacy training services, 6) sample press releases for local use, 7) ads, posters, and other mate rials designed to reach a broad audience, and 8) information for organizing a campaign at the campus level, including checklists and tips for getting started. Create Change has also developed a bro chure suitable for distribution to faculty, which summarizes the serials issue and includes sug gestions for individual action. Information for ordering the brochure is available at the Cre ate Change Web site. Create Change is forming a speakers bu reau that can be drawn on in support o f local efforts. Scholars and researchers w h o are knowledgeable and conversant about the se rials issue, and w ho are willing to speak to ra campus audiences about working for change in scholarly communications, will be listed on the Web site by region. Create Change is also developing an online database o f expensive journals. The database will include the names o f editors and the editorial boards o f each jour nal with price trend information. All o f these resources should make it prac tical for an individual library to customize a campus communication strategy that is suit able to local needs. Information for faculty and administrators In addition to providing support for libraries, Create Change has established a W eb site for faculty and administrators, which provides in formation on both the serials issue and change s tra tegies (a ls o a c c e ss ib le at w w w . createchange.org.) The W eb site will assist fac ulty w ho wish to become more informed and pursue specific options for change. It includes information on the serials problem, sugges tions for specific actions, sample letters to pub lishers, information on copyright transfer agree ments, and information on moving journals and editorial boards from commercial to non commercial and independent publishing ar rangements (with case studies). Faculty will also have access to the database o f expensive scholarly journals, with names o f the editors and editorial boards. We expect that coverage o f Create Change phws illt halsat o appear in higher education media and in the scientific and disciplinary news sources. Such coverage at the national level will reinforce communication with faculty and administrators at the campus level. Get involved now It is critical that all academic libraries par ticipate in this effort. For many years some com m ercial journal publishers have sub jected libraries to fundam entally unjust pricing practices that limit our ability to respond to faculty needs and place the scholarly com munication system in je o p ardy. Our individual inaction w ill on ly al lo w this situation to continue. Our c o llec tive action w ill m ove control o f research back into the hands o f scholars and have a positive impact on journal prices. This is our chance to reverse past trends and make more information available for schol­ http://www.createchange.org 518 / C&RL News ■ June 2000 arship at less cost, rather than the reverse. This is our time to build a new system o f scholarly com munication that genuinely serves the higher education community. This is our opportunity to Create Change. D on’t pass it up. Notes 1. The cost per page o f the journal increased at a compounded annual rate o f 13.5% be tween 1985 and 1999, while the cost o f the journal itself increased at a compounded rate o f 15.2% . 2. According to the most recent Library Jour nal survey o f serials prices, non-U.S. subscrip tions will increase by 13.5% in the year 2000. U.S. titles will increase by 9.5%, and the com posite rate o f increase for all subscriptions will be 11.4% from: Lee Ketcham-Van Orsdel and Kathleen Born, “Periodical Price Survey 2000: Pushing Toward More Affordable Access,” Li brary Journal (April 15, 2000): 51. 3. An annual subscription to Evolutionary Ecology Research is $272. An annual subscrip tion to Evolutionary Ecology, its commercial predecessor, is $784. ■