This is part of a series of profiles detailing the experiences of institutions that have unbundled or canceled big deal journal contracts. The aim of the series is to provide insights, lessons learned, and inspiration to libraries to consider a similar move.
Summary
Due to budget constraints, rising prices, and interest in growing its support for open access, Iowa State University has strategically unbundled its largest subscription journal packages. In 2018, the library moved to a title-by-title contract with Wiley, saving approximately $400,000 in the first year. Following the adoption of journal negotiation principles in 2019, the library left its Elsevier package, with a first-year spending reduction of approximately $700,000. While the money saved was substantial, the decision was also values driven to align expenditures with the mission of the university and to best serve the interests of the community. With the savings, Iowa State was able to address budget reductions and grow its support for open access.
Preparation
In 2017, Iowa State library leaders began to have cross-campus conversations about open access, which culminated in a faculty resolution in support of open access. In 2018, the Faculty Senate Executive Board gave its support for the Library to sign the OA2020 Expression of Interest, which indicated the library’s intention to prioritize agreements that advance open access. Then, in 2019, after a lengthy engagement process with key campus stakeholders, the library developed journal negotiating principles that were supported by a unanimously passed resolution from the ISU Faculty Senate. Financial sustainability, advancing open access, and transparency were at the core, said Curtis Brundy, associate university librarian at Iowa State.
“The conversation started by talking about how, as a land grant university, we care about sharing the knowledge we create with Iowa and the world,” Brundy said.
Those conversations laid the groundwork for a shift in negotiation strategy. “We needed to get stakeholder buy-in, and the journal principles and OA2020 initiative gave us great opportunities for conversation on campus,” said Brundy.
Data was also a big part of the library’s preparation. For the first time, the library pulled data on campus publishing, citation activity, and open access availability into its journal analysis. While downloads and cost per use were still considered, they were no longer the primary metrics being used.
Decision, Outcomes, and Campus Response
The library received very little negative feedback from faculty about the change in journal subscriptions and alternative access strategies. Proactive communication during the Elsevier negotiation helped keep campus stakeholders informed throughout the multi-month process. Outreach included a presentation to faculty senate, campus forums, library newsletter articles, updates to key library and external committees, and a dedicated webpage providing negotiation updates.
“You need a communication strategy that lets folks know broadly what you are doing and why you’re doing it,” Brundy said, adding that it needs to be customized to the needs of your campus environment. “For those who questioned our approach, we were able to point to our journal negotiations principles that were supported by the faculty senate… that really changed the conversation.”
Selecting which titles to maintain was greatly assisted by the data analysis work the library had already done. But this is never easy and even with data it is not an exact science, according to Brundy. Luckily, libraries have the ability to add and drop subscribed titles over time, allowing for fine tuning and necessary adjustments, which was helpful at Iowa State. To complement its remaining title-by-title subscriptions, Iowa State has relied on ILL to fulfill requests for journals it no longer subscribes to. The library has not experienced a jump in ILL charges as a result of unbundling.
The library’s communication strategy extended beyond the negotiation phase. Proactive messaging was critical during implementation as well. For its new title-by-title Elsevier agreement, the library created talking points for the front desk staff and subject librarians. And a plan was in place to refer those with more detailed questions or concerns to the director of collections.
ISU’s unbundling with Wiley set the stage for a lower cost open access agreement that covers campus publishing as well as read access to Wiley’s full portfolio of journals. Its move to title-by-title subscriptions with Elsevier has reduced its annual spending with the company by over 1 million dollars a year. The money saved from unbundling helped address budget cuts and created space to financially support open initiatives. Iowa State has sought to support a variety of open investments, including equitable models like Subscribe to Open, open infrastructure, and open data.
Next Steps and Advice
Since unbundling, other campuses have looked to Iowa State to learn about its work and seek advice.
“Information equity, privacy, accessibility, openness—the values that define our profession need to be centered in our collections decisions. Lead with your values, come up with a strategy, and the rest will follow,” Brundy said.
If better pricing is a goal, it is very important to find out what other libraries pay. Brundy suggests campuses do their homework and find out what peer institutions pay for journal subscriptions. Public records requests can be time consuming, but the pricing and agreement details they produce can be invaluable. Libraries should also review pricing and information that is already publicly accessible.
Iowa State’s decision to unbundle from Wiley and Elsevier was part of its wider open strategy, but the financial aspect—seven figure savings in the case of Elsevier—was also critical. Unbundling, however, will only take a library so far. Brundy believes libraries must continue to advocate and help shape the journal market into something that is values aligned and sustainable. Iowa State’s negotiation principles state that “Financially sustainable journal agreements will emerge from a diverse scholarly publishing landscape—where learned societies and not-for-profit publishers can compete and thrive; where innovation is incentivized and rewarded; and where reasonable profit margins are the norm.” Brundy said that this future may be closer than it was a few years ago but that there is still significant work to do.