ITM Science Day 2002 Electronic journals availability

ITM Science Day 2002 Electronic journals : availability of full-text articles Dirk Schoonbaert ITM Library June 7, 2002

Major themes w Journals: number and diversity. w Electronic journals: availability and evolution. w Linking of bibliographic databases with full-text articles.

Scientific publications w Publications as the outcome of research: n n n Scientific communication: maximum distribution. Permanent archive: ‘definitive version’. Authorship, recognition: priority claims, research assessment, vanity. w Publications as a source for future research: starting point: use data, follow-up, enhance, contradict. w Also: important source for education: e. g. ITM Masters.

Scientific journals w Basic vehicle for the formal dissemination of scientific research results (except maybe for social sciences and humanities). w Exponential growth since 1665: Cf. Derek de Solla Price, Science since Babylon. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1975.

How many journals? Definition: scientific vs. domestic; current vs. discontinued; splitters, mergers, title changes. w E. g. Ulrich’s IPD: 250, 000 periodicals. w E. g. BLDSC (UK): 40, 000 current periodicals + 170, 000 ceased titles. w E. g. Antilope (Belgium): 150, 000 periodicals. Estimates: all journals >> 100, 000. >> 20, 000 of biomedical import.

Specialisation E. g. Science Citation Index (ISI): 160 subject categories for 5, 700 journals: w w w w w Acoustics [27] Agricultural economy & policy [8] Agricultural engineering [9] Agriculture, dairy & animal science [44] Agriculture, multidisciplinary [28] Agriculture, soil science [29] Agronomy [57] Allergy [15] …

Selection criteria w Quality filters: Peer reviewed vs unreviewed; genuine science vs. promotional; vanity press. w Impact filters: circulation; international vs. local audience; reporting original research vs. systematic reviews vs. loose digest. w Bibliographic database coverage: Medline, etc. w Citation analysis: SCI - Science Citation Index; JCR - Journal Citation Reports => (J)IF - Impact factor and other parameters.

Implications for ITM A specialised institute - yet a wide array of disciplines! w Entomology [66] w Health care sciences & services [43] w Immunology [116] w Infectious diseases [36] w Medicine, general & internal [104] w Microbiology [83] w Mycology [14] w Nutrition & dietetics [51] w Parasitology [21] w Public, environmenal & occupational health [88] w Tropical medicine [12] w Veterinary sciences [127] w Virology [28] w …

ITM library Librarian’s compromise: ‘just in case’ collection + ‘just in time’ document delivery mechanisms (delay; pay-per-article, administration). Current journal collection: w Number of current journals: 460 w Current journals with a JIF: 185 w 2002 journals budget: ± 100. 000 €

ITM 2002 journal prices w w w w 2, 000 € : AIDS [incl. electronic edition] 2. 075 € : AIDS Hum Retroviruses [incl. electr. ed. ] 1, 400 € : Exp Parasitol 1, 400 € : Int J Health Plann & Manag 3, 200 € : Mol Biochem Parasitol 2, 100 € : Parasitol Res 3, 250 € : Soc Sci Med 1, 950 € : Vet Parasitol

Serials crisis … w Rising journal prices, diminishing library purchasing power: see ARL graphs. w Need to discontinue expensive subscriptions ! w How to finance new journal subscriptions ? (Budget + equilibrium between disciplines)

… Serials crisis w Evolution: changing publisher roles: n n n learned societies: disseminate knowledge. commercial publishers: make (some) profit. multinational holdings: please stockholders. w Concentration: e. g. Elsevier ( > 1200 journals) + Harcourt/Academic Press ( > 400 journals). w Benefits of ‘package deals’ are less evident for specialised institutes than for large universities (e. g. only interested in specific disciplines).

Publication paradox Scientific institutes pay several times: w Researchers write the articles, act altruistically as free peer reviewers, give away their copyright and may have to pay author fees. w Libraries pay expensive institutional subscriptions (e. g. TM&IH: £ 440 vs. £ 58). w Libraries pay extra copyright fees (e. g. Repro. Bel, document delivery).

Electronic journals w Originally ‘experimental’ electronic-only journals + ‘preprint archives’ (paradigm shift). w Electronic ‘masthead’ for established journals. w Additional contents: TOCs, abstracts, full-text (HTML vs PDF). w Additional functionality: searching, SDI (TOCs or keywords), linking with databases, electronic submission and peer review, multimedia, online-only content, …

Current trends w Electronic edition >> print edition (e. g. BMJ). w ELPS: Electronic Long, Paper Short (BMJ). w Concentration – portals: n Publishers: Science Direct (Elsevier); Ideal (AP); Link (Springer); Blackwell Medical Collection; … n Intermediaries: Swets. Net; Ebsco Online; Ingenta; …

Pricing policy w Online access free for all: BMJ; MMWR; … w Online access free for all after some delay: Proceedings NAS; ASM journals; … w Online access included in print subscription: Blood; Health Policy & Planning. w Online access as paid supplement to print subscription: TM&IH (e. g. 110% - 130%). w Online access only at reduced price: ASM journals (e. g. 90%). w Package deals (cf. above).

Complications w Institutional vs. individual licencing and registration (administration !). w Transparant IP-based registration vs. explicit username + password combination. w HTML vs. PDF; separate figures and tables w Backfiles: availability? permanence? w Higher VAT category: 21% vs. 6% ! w European Copyright legislation; no ILL. w ‘No cancellation’ restrictions in package deals.

Organisation at ITM Linking page at ‘http: //lib. itg. be/journals. htm’: w Links and ‘degree of availability’ markers (e. g. bold type, functionality codes, …). w No passwords because of public availability. w Accurate up-to-date information: daily changes: policy, functionality, URL; …

Bibliographic databases ERL = Electronic Reference Library (Silver. Platter) w ITG catalogues. w ITG databases: selective vs. exhaustive. w International databases. Retrieval interfaces: w Win. SPIRS w Web. SPIRS

Standard linking solutions w DOI: Digital Object Identifier w SFX technology w Silver. Linker (from Silver. Platter) But: ‘appropriate copy’ problem: which version or supplier is paid for by your institution? w Pro: linking on individual article basis. w Con: fine for large multidisciplinary collections, many false hits for smaller specialised libraries.

Current ITM solution … w Out-linking from databases is mainly based on article-specific data, not on journal selection. w Intermediation by the ‘electronic journals’ list: n Selection: ‘Yes/No’ on journal level. n Specification of holdings (both electronic and print) is clearly indicated on the list. n Linking to electronic edition: direct (Web. SPIRS) or copy/paste (Win. SPIRS).

… Current ITM solution w A few examples. w Pro: good fit to the actually available collection; the list is easily adjustable, not dependent on database updates. w Con: linking on the journal-level, not on the article level [= project still in progress].

New initiatives … w Pub. Med Central: free access to established journals after 6 months. w Bio. Med Central: a series of new electronic-only peer reviewed journals, financed by author fees. w High. Wire Press: re-empower learned societies as scientific publishers. w HINARI – Health Internetwork & Sci. Dev. Net: special conditions for developing countries.

… New initiatives w SPARC – Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition: offer new alternatives for expensive journals. w Public Library of Science: boycot? revolution? w Open Archives Initiative: self-archiving, using global interconnectivity protocols. w Free Online Scholarship. w Budapest Open Access Initiative. w…

Conclusion w Electronic journals as a new improved distribution medium for scientific information: no hype – compare e. g. 1994 to 2002. w Free availability of all journals for everybody: too naive a vision. Don’t expect too much. w Authorship, responsibility, recognition ? w Quality control for biomedical information ?

Additional materials ITM Library linking pages: w http: //lib. itg. be/journals. htm w http: //lib. itg. be/ebooks. htm w http: //lib. itg. be/biblinks. htm ITM Library databases: w Library & information science: selected literature on electronic journals, hybrid libraries, peer review, citation analysis, …

About ‘perspective’ « […] in 1992, when we were just starting our experimentation with electronic delivery of full text, I was approached by a very important person at the Library of Congress. […] And he said to me, « I want to get a site licence for Elsevier journals, » and I said, « For the Library of Congress? » He said, « No, for the whole country. » I said « I don’t have all the journals available. I might in 2 or 3 years. » He said, « It doesn’t matter. What would it cost? » I gave him a number for an annual subscrip-tion, and he said, « Well, what would it cost for all of them? Everything? » This is 1992, and I’m trying to guess. I said, « I dunno. Two billion dollars? Three billion dollars? I don’t know. » He said, « I can do that! That’s two bombers! » That put the whole issue in a new perspective. » [Karen Hunter, Elsevier, 1999]