1. Pricing Electronic
journals: non-profit and
commercial lessons
shared
John Cox
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2. State of the academic
market
n USA: 60% of the market by value
but 30% of world libraries
n Growth in library consortia buying
e-content: from 102 in 2000 to over
230 today
n Economy in cyclical downturn, but
recovering
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3. Library cost structure
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4. Pricing based on
subscription price
CABI Publishing:
Title: British Journal of Nutrition
Print Online Online + print
$ 905 $ 890 $ 940
Title: In vitro Cellular &
Developmental Biology- Plant
Print Online Online + print
$ 275 $ 263 $ 275
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5. Population-based
models
OUP: OED
4 yr: 100% FTE
2 yr: 50% FTE
Corp/Gov’t/military: 100% FTE
Non-profit org: 50% FTE
Public library: 2% - 4% of
population in
bands
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6. Population-based
models
BMJ Publishing Group
Print Online Print + online
Small 100% 100% 110%
(1-400)
Medium 100% 125% 135%
(401-1500)
Large 100% 140% 150%
(1501 +)
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7. Differential pricing: type
Project MUSE:
Type Discount
Academic 0%
Small academic 25%
Community/2 yr 50%
Special (Museum, Ass’n etc) 50%
Public 75%
High schools 87.5%
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8. Pricing for consortia
Project MUSE:
No of institutions Discount
1-4 0%
5-19 10%
20-39 20%
40-59 30%
60-99 40%
100 + 50%
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9. Differential pricing:
service
n Blackwell, Elsevier, Wiley:
- Basic: limited period, limited
usage – very basic functionality
- Premium: fully functional,
continuing access, back files,
articles on acceptance, search,
etc.
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10. Value for money: role of
cost per use
n Two aspects:
- price per use: price divided by
number of uses
- cost per use: library operational
costs
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11. Price per use
Journal US$ cost No uses $ per use
A 2,385 187 12.75
B 398 6 66.33
C 98 3 32.67
D 5,922 183 32.36
E 496 18 27.56
F 1,389 52 26.71
G 5,095 483 10.56
H 14,669 1,777 8.25
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12. Cost per use
Type Operational cost
E-journal
Individual title subs $ 0.45
Publisher’s packages $ 0.45
Multi-publisher packages $ 0.45
Print journals
Current issues $ 6.00
Bound volumes $30.00
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13. Contact details
John Cox Associates Ltd
Web: www.johncoxassociates.com
E-mail: John.E.Cox@btinternet.com
or
john.cox@johncoxassociates.com
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