Changes to Journals and Other Subscriptions, 2023/24

Looking at the proposed subscription cancellations holistically

We are canceling 494 journal, magazine, and newspaper subscriptions, which is about 5% of our current subscriptions and less than a half of a percent of the journals available through the Libraries' "Journal A-Z list". For many of these titles, we will continue to receive new issues (albeit with a delay). And for nearly all titles, we will maintain large backfiles of already published volumes. After this round of cancellations, we still expect to be able to provide UNCG faculty and students with access to over 100,000 journals, magazines, and newspapers, including current subscriptions to virtually every journal published by Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Oxford, SAGE, ACS, University of Chicago, ASM, Emerald, Human Kinetics, LWW, AMA, Human Kinetics, Mary Ann Liebert, Duke, Taylor and Francis, and several other prestigious academic publishers. Even after these cuts, UNCG will subscribe to more major publisher academic journals than most national peers, and more than some R1's (including UNC Chapel Hill).

Lists of Titles and Packages

In identifying specific titles and packages for potential cancellation, library faculty and staff followed a thorough and thoughtful process in analyzing available data for journals, including such details as price, usage statistics, cost-per-use, overlap with other resources, duplicate access to a given title, ability to access the title off campus, expected inflation rates, and current need or relevance. When considering cancellation options, the Libraries looked at both individual journal subscriptions and "Big Deals".

Big Deals

A “Big Deal” is a package containing many journal titles that a publisher offers as a one-price, one-size-fits-all package. Although a Big Deal can be relatively expensive, it can also be cost effective, because faculty and students gain access to a significantly larger number of journals than a library could afford through individual subscriptions. The University Libraries have Big Deals with 20 publishers, through which we subscribe to nearly 10,000 journals. All 20 Big Deals were reviewed and four were identified for cancellation.

  • ADIS package of 17 current medical and health science titles
    Reason: high cost-per-use; alternate immediate access to all but the most recent year
    Post cancellation access: We will maintain ownership of many volumes published 2015-2023. Moving forward, we will continue to receive new content for all ADIS titles, but with a one year delay (so the newest avilable content will always be a year old). Articles published in the most recent 12 months and after 2024 can be obtained through ILL.
    Continued current access: We will retain alternative current access to Advances in Therapy and Targeted Oncology.
  • Cambridge University Press Core package of 341 current titles
    Reason: high cost-per-use; alternate immediate access to all but the most recent year
    Post cancellation access: We will maintain ownership of many volumes published 2006-2023. Moving forward, we will continue to receive new content for nearly all Cambridge titles, but with a one year delay (so the newest available content will always be a year old). Many articles published in the most recent 12 months and after 2024 will remain accessible via the publisher's aggressive Open Access program. Non Open Access articles published in the past 12 months can be obtained through ILL.
    Continued current access: Cambridge publishes eighty fully open access journals. We propose the retention of our two most cost effective subscriptions: Development and Psychopathology and Tempo.
  • Royal Society of Chemistry package of 52 current titles
    Reason: high cost-per-use
    Post cancellation access: We will maintain ownership to some volumes published prior to 2023. RSC has recently announced an expansion of their Open Access commitment, which means many articles in unsubscribed titles will remain available to us. And RSC plans to make all their journals available at no cost within 5 years.
  • University of California Press package of 36 current titles
    Reason: high cost-per-use
    Post cancellation access: We will maintain ownership of a few recent years. Articles published 2024- can be obtained through ILL.
    Continued current access: UC publishes fully open access journals - Collabra, Elementa, Media +Environment, Civic Sociology, and Advances in Global Health. We propose retaining a current subscription to the most cost-effective title, The American Biology Teacher.

Individual ejournal subscriptions

The Libraries subscribe to 76 individual ejournals that are not part of "Big Deals". We have will cancel the individual titles that meet one or more of the following criteria: high cost, large cost increase, low usage, access problems, duplicate access to a given title, ability to provide delayed access to new issues, and current need or relevance.

List of 48 ejournals we will cancel and for which we will no longer receive the latest issues as they are published

Comments and Feedback

We encourage faculty input regarding the impact of these reductions on your research and teaching. Keep in mind that it is almost certain that next year will see additional cuts. Send comments to Tim Bucknall, Assistant Dean of University Libraries. We are willing to attend departmental meetings or meet with department heads, if more information, context, or discussion would be helpful.