Glossary

80/20 rule

Principle describing the reality that a small proportion of a Big Deal’s titles (roughly 20%) tends to represent the most usage, cost, or other metric (roughly 80%)

(If a Big Deal’s usage at a library adheres to the 80/20 rule, unbundling may be warranted; if journal costs adhere to the 80/20 rule, unbundling may not be cost-effective)

Alternate Terms: Pareto principle; Pareto distribution; the vital few

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Macy, K. V. (2018). Information creates relative bargaining power in vendor negotiations, The Bottom Line, 31(2), 137–149, https://doi.org/10.1108/BL-12-2017-0033.

Trueswell, R. L. (1969). Some behavioral patterns of library users: The 80/20 rule, Wilson Library Bulletin, 43(5), 458–461.

Blecic, D. B., Wiberley, S.E., Jr., Fiscella, J. B., Bahnmaier-Blaszczak, S., & Lowery, R. (2013). Deal or no deal? Evaluating Big Deals and their journals, College & Research Libraries, 74(2), 178–193, https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/view/16293/17739.

add-on

Journal to which the library did not subscribe but to which the publisher provided access as part of the Big Deal at no additional charge or for a fraction of the list price

(Libraries should account for potential increases to a journal package’s cost due to potentially unwanted titles automatically added to their subscription)

Alternate Terms: take-on title

Related Terms: transfer title

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

aggregator

Third-party platform that licenses journal content for subscription at a database level (e.g., EBSCO, ProQuest, Gale)

(The availability of journal content in aggregator databases may be factored in a decision about retaining or canceling a Big Deal)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: publisher

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Stakeholder,Access Mechanism

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Blessinger, K., & Olle, M. (2008). Comparison of three primary aggregator databases, Serials Librarian, 45(1), 53–59, https://doi.org/10.1300/J123v45n01_06.

Nixon, J. M. (2010). A reprise, or round three: Using a database management program as a decision-support system for the cancellation of serials, Serials Librarian, 59(3–4), 302–312, https://doi.org/10.1080/03615261003619086.

alternative access analysis

An analysis that accounts for open access, ILL requests, and/or pay-per-view models when predicting the impact of journal cancellations

(Allows for forecasting future costs and needs in different subscription/cancellation scenarios)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: interlibrary loan,pay-per-view

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

Schonfeld, R. C. (2019, March 7). Is the value of the Big Deal in decline?, The Scholarly Kitchen, https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/03/07/value-big-deal-leakage/.

UC Publisher Strategy and Negotiation Task Force. (2019, May). Negotiating with scholarly journal publishers: A toolkit from the University of California, https://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/uc-publisher-relationships/resources-for-negotiating-with-publishers/negotiating-with-scholarly-journal-publishers-a-toolkit/.

Osterman, A. C., Rondeau, S., Bowdoin, J., O’Gara, G. M., & Pape, J. (2020). The impact of Big Deal breaks on library consortia: An exploratory case study, Serials Librarian, 79(1–2), 153–162, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2020.1740855.

article publication charges (APCs)

A charge paid by authors, their institutions, or funders to publish an article as open access in a fully open access or hybrid open access journal to fund operations of that journal

(Important to understand APC costs when evaluating open access alternatives and transformative agreements)

Alternate Terms: article processing charges, publication fee

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > License Term,Business Practice,Price Model

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Mudditt, A. (2016, August 24). The costs of flipping our dollars to gold, The Scholarly Kitchen, https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/08/24/the-costs-of-flipping-our-dollars-to-gold/.

Solomon, D. J., & Björk, B.‐C. (2012). A study of open access journals using article processing charges, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(8), 1485–1495, https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.22673.

author affiliation

Institutions (e.g., university, non-profit, think tanks) that an author is attached to

(Analyzing author-affiliation data allows a publisher to understand an institution’s contribution to its journals and an institution to understand the local value of a publisher’s journals)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: corresponding author,local authors,author impact analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Article

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

author impact analysis

Analysis of the change in journal impact factor if an institution or institutional system were to cease publishing in a publisher’s journal(s), calculated by subtracting from the actual impact factor the hypothetical impact factor with the impact of the institution’s articles removed

(Helps demonstrate the value that an institution provides the publisher)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: local authors,citation analysis,value-based analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

backfile

Older published volumes of a journal

(Ownership of or temporary subscription access to older content may factor into a Big Deal cancellation analysis, depending on local value of backfile content)

Alternate Terms: archive; backlist; back list; back file

Related Terms: frontfile

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Big Deal

Large commercial publishers sell bundled online subscriptions to a large collection (or their entire list) of academic journals at prices significantly lower than the sum of their à la carte prices

(Big Deals bring publishers an increased reach for their less popular journals and bring subscribing institutions cost-effective access to a large set of journals at a predictable annual cost increase, at the expense of flexibility in canceling individual)

Alternate Terms: bundle

Related Terms: unbundle

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice,Price Model

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Poynder, R. (2011). The Big Deal: Not price but cost, Information Today, 28(8), https://www.infotoday.com/it/sep11/The-Big-Deal-Not-Price-But-Cost.shtml.

Frazier, K. (2001, March). The librarian’s dilemma: Contemplating the cost of the Big Deal, D-Lib Magazine, 7(3), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march01/frazier/03frazier.html.

Bergstrom, T. C., Courant, P. N., McAfee, R. P., & Williams, M. A. (2014). Evaluating big deal journal bundles, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(26), 9425–9430, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1403006111.

Cabells Journalytics

Subscription database of journals that show evidence of reputable practices

(This list of reputable journals can complement other measures of relevance and value)

Alternate Terms: formerly whitelist

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Tool

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Cabells. (n.d.). About Journalytics, Cabells Scholarly Analytics, https://www2.cabells.com/about-journalytics.

Dony, C., Raskinet, M., Renaville, F., Simon, S., & Thirion, P. (2020). How reliable and useful is Cabell’s Blacklist? A data-driven analysis, LIBER Quarterly, 30(1), https://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10339.

Cabells Predatory Reports

Subscription database of journals that show evidence of misleading or predatory practices

(This list of questionable journals can complement other measures of relevance and value)

Alternate Terms: formerly blacklist

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Tool

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Cabells. (n.d.). About Predatory Reports, Cabells Scholarly Analytics, https://www2.cabells.com/about-predatory.

circulation

The number of times a given item is checked out during a fixed period of time

(Print circulation may have continued relevance to assessing electronic-journal collections, e.g., in measuring the importance of backfiles held in print as a means of alternative access)

Alternate Terms: print circulation

Related Terms: item-level usage analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Reitz, J. M. (2004–2014). Circulation, Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, https://products.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_c.aspx#circulatinglib.

citation analysis

A bibliometric technique in which works cited in publications are examined to determine patterns of scholarly communication, including the relative importance of specific journals to an institution

(Institutions might acknowledge journals where their authors publish as one measure of value and journal that their authors cite as another)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: author impact analysis,cost per citation

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods,Assessment Data > Assessment Method,Data Source

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Reitz, J. M. (2004–2014). Citation analysis, Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, https://products.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_c.aspx#citation.

Dawson, D. (2015). A triangulation method to dismantling a disciplinary “Big Deal”, Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, https://doi.org/10.5062/F4610X9H.

competitor comparison

An analysis of a publisher against at least one other major competitor who offers a similar mix of journals, mapping journal cost against usage and journal impact factor

(Provides a value-based comparison, highlighting pricing behavior or usage trends outside the norm)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: value-based analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

core titles

Titles to which a subscribing library retains post-cancellation-access rights, often based on historical print subscriptions

(Publishers may offer a variety of subscription options, ranging from no core titles (current-subscription access only) to all package titles offered with perpetual access, in which case the term “core titles” is unlikely to be used)

Alternate Terms: subscribed titles

Related Terms: perpetual access

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Millhorn, J. (2018). Lessons from the Big Deal: The rise and fall of licensed packages is not all bad, Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Summer 2018, https://doi.org/10.5062/F4KD1W4F.

corresponding author

The author responsible for communicating with the journal regarding the submission and publication of an article

(When entering or administering transformative agreements, the publisher may stipulate APC funding based on the institution of the corresponding author)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: author affiliation,local authors,author impact analysis

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Stakeholder,License Term

Relevant Content Levels: Article

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Elsevier. (n.d.). What is a corresponding author?, Author Services, https://scientific-publishing.webshop.elsevier.com/publication-recognition/what-corresponding-author/.

Gumpenberger, C., Hölbling, L., & Gorraiz, J. I. (2018). On the issues of a “corresponding author” field-based monitoring approach for Gold Open Access publications and derivative cost calculations, Frontiers in Research Methods and Analytics, 3, https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2018.00001.

cost per citation

A bibliometric technique dividing institutional costs by the number of institutional authors’ citations of subscribed journal content as a measure of value

(Measuring the value of citations emphasizes importance to published researchers, generally faculty)

Alternate Terms: cost per cited reference

Related Terms: cost per use,cost per impact,citation analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Martin, V., Gray, T., Kilb, M., & Minchew, T. (2016). Analyzing consortial “Big Deals” via a cost-per-cited-reference (CPCR) metric, Serials Review, 42(4), 293–305, https://doi.org/10.1080/00987913.2016.1248218.

cost per impact

A bibliometric technique dividing institutional costs by a quantitative measure of journal impact as a measure of value

(Cost per impact allows an institution to compare the cost-effectiveness of its own Big Deals as well as across institutions)

Alternate Terms: cost per impact factor

Related Terms: cost per use,cost per citation,Eigenfactor,Impact Factor,author impact analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Wilson, J. (2010, March 30). Journal value metrics assessment, CDLINFO, https://cdlib.org/cdlinfo/2010/03/30/journal-value-metrics-assessment/.

cost per use

Value calculation dividing cost (package subscription, list price, or pay-per-view) by use (generally downloads but potentially turnaways or other forms of access)

(Cost per use is a fundamental element of comparisons among journals or journal packages)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: nominal cost per use,distributed cost per use,cost per citation,cost per impact,turnaway

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Article,Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Kendrick, C. (2019, September 5). Guest Post: Cost per Use Overvalues Journal Subscriptions, The Scholarly Kitchen, https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/09/05/guest-post-cost-per-use-overvalues-journal-subscriptions/.

Botero, C., Carrico, S., & Tennant, M. R. (2008). Using comparative online journal usage studies to assess the Big Deal, Library Resources & Technical Services, 52(2), 61–68, https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.52n2.61.

cost-effectiveness

The value of subscriptions delivered in relation to the corresponding costs

(Cost-effectiveness is a critical factor in libraries’ decision-making and in their communication with funding sources)

Alternate Terms: return on investment

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Assessment Methods > Metric,Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

COUNTER

This Code of Practice enables publishers and vendors to report usage of their electronic resources in a consistent way

(Standardized reporting of usage statistics enables libraries to compare data received from different publishers and vendors)

Alternate Terms: Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources

Related Terms: SUSHI

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Standard,Data Source

Relevant Content Levels: Article,Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Project COUNTER. (2019, January). The COUNTER Code of Practice for Release 5, COUNTER, https://www.projectcounter.org/code-of-practice-five-sections/abstract/.

Scott, M. (2016). Predicting Use: COUNTER usage data found to be predictive of ILL use and ILL use to be predictive of COUNTER use, Serials Librarian, 71(1), 20–24, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2016.1165783.

database model

Big Deal price model that treats all content within an e-journal package as a single-cost database, eliminating the need for title-by-title reconciliation

(Tracking and analysis can be handled differently depending on how a model subdivides pricing and content)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: non-selective package

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Bosch, S., & Henderson, K. (2017). New world, same model: Periodicals price survey 2017, Library Journal, https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=new-world-same-model-periodicals-price-survey-2017.

deal-level metrics

Assessment of the costs and value of a Big Deal for comparison to other packages and to aid unbundling decisions

(Deal-level metrics guide selection of a Big Deal for subscription or termination)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: journal-level metrics

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Assessment Methods > Metric,Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

distributed cost per use

Journal’s portion of package price, divided by all usage in the package

(Can be compared with nominal cost per use to determine the relative value of bundling)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: cost per use,nominal cost per use

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Rusch, E., & Gustafson-Sundell, N. (2019). Journal collection analysis: How we developed new tools to improve collection assessment, evaluation, and outreach, Serials Librarian, 76(1–4), 96–102, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2019.1540269.

download

Successful full-text article request, generally measured according to the COUNTER Code of Practice

(Measuring the use of existing subscriptions is fundamental to assessing Big Deals)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: COUNTER,cost per use

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Article,Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

downloads per year

An aggregate metric that can be used to compare journals or subscription packages

(Such metrics might be used to calculate high-level cost per use)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Eigenfactor

Bibliometric measurement of the influence of scholarly journals using network analysis of citation patterns

(Eigenfactor and similar approximations of journal quality can play a role in calculating the value of a journal to an institution)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: Impact Factor,cost per impact

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

West, J., Bergstrom, C. T., Bergstrom, T. C., & Alhouse, B. (n.d.). Journal ranking, Eigenfactor.org, http://www.eigenfactor.org/projects/journalRank/.

West, J. D., Bergstrom, T. C., & Bergstrom, C. T. (2010). The Eigenfactor metrics: A network approach to assessing scholarly journals, College & Research Libraries, 71(3), 236–244, https://doi.org/10.5860/0710236.

electronic journal

Scholarly periodicals delivered in online format

(These constitute the substance of a Big Deal subscription)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: print journal,print+online

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

entitlements

The details of titles and dates covered in a subscription agreement or backfile purchase

(The content covered by an agreement informs efforts to maintain access appropriately during the term of the agreement and after cancellation)

Alternate Terms: holdings

Related Terms: frontfile,backfile,perpetual access,core titles,KBART title list

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Business Practices > Business Practice,Data Source

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Taplin, B. (2019, July 23). Post-cancellation access rights in Jisc Collections journal agreements: An overview, Jisc Library Services, https://libraryservices.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2019/07/post-cancellation-access-rights-in-jisc-collections-journal-agreements-an-overview/.

EZproxy

EZproxy is middleware that authenticates library users against local authentication systems and provides remote access to licensed content based on the user’s authorization

(EZproxy is a potential source of e-journal usage data)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Data Source

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

“Mr. Librarian.” (2020, February 9). EZproxy, Glossary of Library & Information Science, https://www.librarianshipstudies.com/2020/02/ezproxy.html.

Rosenfeld, J., & Enoch, T. (2019). “Set it and forget it”: Proactively managing your EZproxy server, Serials Librarian, 76(1–4), 30–34, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2019.1551041.

free rider

A person or institution who benefits from open access without contributing to its production costs

(Readers of open access content who would otherwise have paid subscription fees represent lost revenue for the publisher, and price models often seek to recover that revenue)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: >

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level:

Further Reading:

Hardin, R., & Cullity, G. (Winter 2020). The free rider problem, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Edward N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2020/entries/free-rider/.

frontfile

Current and recently published volumes of a journal

(Frontfile access is the core of most Big Deal negotiations)

Alternate Terms: frontlist; front list; front file

Related Terms: backfile

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

grant acknowledgement statements

Statement that acknowledges any funders that paid for the research or project

(Filtering article-level data in published journals by grant acknowledgement statements allows both institutions and publishers to understand how institutions fund their open access production)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Business Practices > Data Source,Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Article

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Impact Factor

Impact Factor is commonly used to evaluate the relative importance of a journal within its field and to measure the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular time period

(Impact Factor and similar approximations of journal quality often figure highly in an institution’s calculation of a journal’s value, as well as in authors’ selection of publication venue)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: Eigenfactor,cost per impact

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

indexing

The inclusion of a journal in an index, especially prominent comprehensive indexes such as Scopus and Web of Science or the Directory of Open Access Journals

(A journal’s inclusion in specific indexes can serve as an approximation of the journal’s quality)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Data Source

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Allen, E. J., & Weber, R. K. (2015). An exploration of indexed and non-indexed open access journals: Identifying metadata coding variations, Journal of Web Librarianship, 9(2–3), 65–84, https://doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2015.1020185.

interlibrary loan

Process by which a library requests material from, or supplies material to, another library

(Interlibrary loan is the primary access mechanism for canceled or nonsubscribed materials, and its costs should be included in measuring the value of Big Deals relative to unbundling)

Alternate Terms: ILL; resource sharing

Related Terms: alternative access analysis

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Access Mechanism

Relevant Content Levels: Article

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Reference and User Services Association. (2016). Interlibrary loan code for the United States, RUSA Publications, Guidelines, & Resources, http://www.ala.org/rusa/guidelines/interlibrary.

Pedersen, W. A., Arcand, J., & Forbis, M. (2014). The Big Deal, interlibrary loan, and building the user-centered journal collection: A case study, Serials Review, 40(4), 242–250, https://doi.org/10.1080/00987913.2014.975650.

item-level usage analysis

Analyzing usage at the article level, factoring in backfile access in order to understand usage and the impact of canceling a journal

(Allows for forecasting future costs and needs in different subscription/cancellation scenarios)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: value-based analysis,circulation

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

journal-level metrics

Assessment of the costs and value of an individual journal, especially within a Big Deal, for comparison to other journals and to aid unbundling decisions

(Journal-level metrics guide selection of individual subscriptions from journals previously provided by a terminated deal)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: deal-level metrics

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Assessment Methods > Metric,Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

KBART title list

Common file specification and delivery mechanism for communicating holdings data for serials and monographs among content providers, knowledge base vendors, and libraries according to the NISO Recommended Practice “Knowledge Bases and Related Tools”

(KBART-formatted title lists, available from most publishers, allow for ready viewing of titles offered in packages, which can be aligned with holdings and usage data for further analysis)

Alternate Terms: Knowledge Bases And Related Tools

Related Terms: entitlements

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Data Source

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

NISO. (2014). Knowledge Bases And Related Tools (KBART; NISO RP-9-2014), https://www.niso.org/standards-committees/kbart.

NISO. (2014). KBART frequently asked questions, https://www.niso.org/standards-committees/kbart/kbart-frequently-asked-questions.

list price

The publisher’s stated, undiscounted price for individual journals

(List price can offer an approximation of the cost differential between a Big Deal and an unbundled subscription)

Alternate Terms: nominal price; sticker price

Related Terms: street price

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

local authors

Researchers who contribute to the scholarly record as authors on behalf of an institution whose library is assessing its subscriptions

(Local authorship reflects one form of a journal’s value to an institution, one which may or may not necessitate an ongoing subscription)

Alternate Terms: institutional authors

Related Terms: local editors

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Business Practices > Stakeholder,Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

local editors

Researchers who contribute to editing the scholarly record on behalf of an institution whose library is assessing its subscriptions

(Institutions may wish to consult (or at least consider) their researchers who serve on a journal’s editorial board before canceling)

Alternate Terms: institutional editors

Related Terms: local authors

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Business Practices > Stakeholder,Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

nominal cost per use

List price of journal title, divided by all usage

(Can be compared with the distributed cost per use to determine the relative value of bundling)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: cost per use,distributed cost per use

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

non-selective package

Type of electronic collection where libraries subscribe to all of the content

(Allows for analysis of costs vs. access when considering different types of subscriptions offered by a publisher or vendor)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: selective package,database model,aggregator

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level:

Further Reading:

offsetting agreements

A type of transformative agreement where fees for subscriptions and for article publishing offest one another, so that either subscription fees are reduced as publishing fees increase, or article publication charges (APCs) are heavily discounted to account for fees allocated to subscriptions

(Transformative agreements are providing a transition as work is being done to move to a sustainable scholarly communication model)

Alternate Terms: offset agreement

Related Terms: transformative agreement

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > License Term,Business Practice,Price Model

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

open access status

Whether an article was published immediately for open access in a journal that offers a hybrid model

(Allows for analysis of alternative access when understanding value a publisher provides)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: article publication charges (APCs)

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Business Practices > Metric,Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Article

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

overlap analysis

Report (usually automated) showing the extent (titles and dates) to which content overlaps among two journal packages

(Primarily used to compare aggregator holdings to one another or to that of a Big Deal package in order to determine the extent of content to be gained through subscription or lost through unbundling)

Alternate Terms: holdings overlap

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Belvadi, M. (2015). Do-it-yourself title overlap comparisons, Charleston Library Conference, https://doi.org/10.5703/128828431626.

pay-per-view

Arrangement with publisher or intermediary to purchase article access on an individual item (rather than journal or package) level

(Pay-per-view is an alternative access mechanism for canceled or nonsubscribed materials, and its costs should be included in measuring the relative value of Big Deals)

Alternate Terms: token

Related Terms: alternative access analysis

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Access Mechanism

Relevant Content Levels: Article

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Weicher, M., & Zhang, T. Z. (2012). Unbunding the “Big Deal” with pay-per-view of e-journal articles, Serials Librarian, 63(1), 28–37, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2012.688167.

perpetual access

Publisher-provided access to materials in digital format paid for by a library during a subscription after the subscription has been canceled by the library

(Perpetual-access rights should factor in Big Deal negotiations and become of practical importance once a package is canceled)

Alternate Terms: post-cancellation access

Related Terms: entitlements

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > License Term

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Reitz, J. M. (2004–2014). Perpetual access, Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, https://products.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_p.aspx#permutedindex.

Calvert, K. (2013). Starting from scratch on perpetual access, Serials Librarian, 65(1), 69–73, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2013.800464.

portion available open access

What portion of a hybrid journal is published open access

(Allows for analysis of alternative access when understanding value a publisher provides via subscribed materials)

Alternate Terms: percent available OA

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Business Practices > Metric,Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

price sensitivity

The extent to which buyers are sensitive to price increases. There are four factors in price sensitivity: 1) proportion of total cost, 2) the level of differentiation between products, 3) the importance of a product/service to the buyer for offering a quality service or product to their own customers, and 4) the level of competition between end users.

(Qualitative data used with quantitative can be used to determine how sensitive libraries are to price changes according to the four factors)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Article,Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy, Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78–93, https://hbr.org/2008/01/the-five-competitive-forces-that-shape-strategy.

Macy, K. V. (2018). Information creates relative bargaining power in vendor negotiations, The Bottom Line, 31(2), 137–149, https://doi.org/10.1108/BL-12-2017-0033.

pricing regression analysis

Determining the statistical impact of such journal package quality metrics as title count, number of articles, usage, citations, and journal impact factor on price

(Measures the strength of correlations to determine value, providing the ability to understand how much price reflects quality)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: value-based analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

print journal

Scholarly periodicals delivered in print format

(Print-journal subscriptions may have served as the basis of historical Big Deal pricing; many institutions and publishers are seeking more equitable and sustainable mechanisms for determining baseline prices)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: electronic journal,print+online

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

print+online

Subscription model (particularly popular in the early period of transition from print) in which e-journal access is included for free or with an additional fee with a print subscription to that journal

(Legacy price models may influence current negotiations, and some libraries may value print content, at least for some journals)

Alternate Terms: electronic free/included with print

Related Terms: print journal,electronic journal

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model,Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

publish-and-read agreement

A type of transformative agreement where all or most costs are allocated toward open access publishing at the article level, with read access and perpetual rights to subscription articles included as a benefit of the agreement

(Transformative agreements are providing a transition as work is being done to move to a sustainable scholarly communication model)

Alternate Terms: PAR agreement

Related Terms: read-and-publish agreement,offsetting agreements,transformative agreement

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > License Term,Business Practice,Price Model

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

publish-and-read fee

Costs in a transformative agreement dedicated to open access publishing by authors at the subscribing institution

(Institutions or publishers may seek to include such costs in a Big Deal negotiation, particularly for institutions with high article output with the publisher)

Alternate Terms: PAR fee

Related Terms: publish-and-read agreement,reading fee

Category > Subcategory: >

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level:

Further Reading:

publisher

Creator and host of journal content

(Party to their respective Big Deal negotiations)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: aggregator

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Stakeholder

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

qualitative data

Data describing something’s attributes or properties, categorized into classes

(Qualitative data often tells the story behind quantitative data; it helps explain the numbers)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Assessment Methods > Metric,Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Article,Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Macy, K. V. (2018). Information creates relative bargaining power in vendor negotiations, The Bottom Line, 31(2), 137–149, https://doi.org/10.1108/BL-12-2017-0033.

quality

Importance of a journal to its users

(Depending on an institution’s user base, assessment of journal quality may variously factor in downloads, citations, and other impacts)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: utility

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Saha, S., Saint, S., & Christakis, D. A. (2003). Impact factor: A valid measure of journal quality?, Journal of the Medical Library Association, 91(1), 42–46, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC141186/.

quantitative data

Data expressing a certain quantity, amount, or range that often uses some sort of measurement unit (e.g., usage, cost, cost per use, searches)

(Quantitative data allows items to be compared against each other since they use common metrics; it enables the determination of impact)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data,Assessment Methods > Metric,Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Article,Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

OECD. (2006, January 3). Quantitative data, Glossary of Statistical Terms, https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=2219.

OECD. (2004, January 30). Qualitative data, Glossary of Statistical Terms, https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=3494.

Macy, K. V. (2018). Information creates relative bargaining power in vendor negotiations, The Bottom Line, 31(2), 137–149, https://doi.org/10.1108/BL-12-2017-0033.

Extensible free software environment for statistical analysis and graphing

(May be used for processing quantitative data as part of a Big Deal analysis)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: SPSS

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Tool

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

The R Foundation. (n.d.). Introduction to R, https://www.r-project.org/about.html.

read-and-publish agreement

A type of transformative agreement where a single fee covers both subscription access and open access publishing for affiliated authors, with the balance tilted toward subscription charges

(Transformative agreements are providing a transition as work is being done to move to a sustainable scholarly communication model.)

Alternate Terms: RAP agreement

Related Terms: publish-and-read agreement,offsetting agreements

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > License Term,Business Practice,Price Model

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

reading fee

The cost to have read access to a journal and is part of a read-and-publish (RAP) transformative agreement; the negotiated reading fee and discounted APCs replace what was formally the subscription fee within a transformative agreement

(Institutions or publishers may seek to include such costs in a Big Deal negotiation, particularly for institutions with little or no article output with the publisher)

Alternate Terms: read-and-publish fee

Related Terms: read-and-publish agreement,transformative agreement,subscription cost

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model,Business Practice,License Term

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

selective package

Type of electronic collection where libraries subscribe to only part of the content

(Allows for analysis of costs for access when considering different types of subscriptions offered by a publisher or vendor)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: non-selective package

Category > Subcategory: >

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level:

Further Reading:

Quinn, B. (2001). The impact of aggregator packages on collection management, Collection Management, 25(3), 53–74, https://doi.org/10.1300/J105v25n03_05.

SPSS

Statistical software available by subscription

(May be used for processing quantitative data as part of a Big Deal analysis)

Alternate Terms: Statistical Product and Service Solutions; Statistical Package for the Social Sciences; IBM SPSS Statistics

Related Terms: R

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Tool

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

IBM. (n.d.). IBM SPSS Statistics, https://www.ibm.com/products/spss-statistics.

street price

The actual total price for individual journals outside a Big Deal, which in practice is often lower than the list price

(While street price may be vague and intangible until a publisher makes an offer, institutions considering unbundling should be aware that list price may not reflect the likely best price offered outside a Big Deal)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: list price

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

subscribe to open

Method for converting subscription journals to open access by committing existing institutional subscriptions to OA memberships

(Decisions about journal-package subscriptions can include considerations about transforming the publishing ecosystem’s costs and incentives)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: transformative agreement

Category > Subcategory: >

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level:

Further Reading:

Crow, R., Gallagher, R., & Naim, K. (2019). Subscribe to Open: A practical approach for converting subscription journals to open access, Learned Publishing, 33(2), 181–185, https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1262.

subscription cost

The cost to have read access to a journal or journal package in the traditional journal and journal-package acquisition model

(Important to understand when modeling changes in subscriptions, cancellations, and/or moving to transformative agreements)

Alternate Terms: subscription fee

Related Terms: reading fee

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model,Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

SUSHI

This ANSI/NISO standard defines an automated request-and-response model for automated harvesting of e-resource usage data

(SUSHI replaces the time-consuming user-mediated collection of usage data reports and can be used to retrieve a variety of usage reports)

Alternate Terms: Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative; Z39.93-2014

Related Terms: COUNTER

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Standard,Data Source

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

NISO. (2014). Standardized Usage Statistics Harvesting Initiative (SUSHI) Protocol (ANSI/NISO Z39.93-2014), http://www.niso.org/standards-committees/sushi.

tiered open access model

Freely available publication of content, with added benefits such as downloadable PDF made available only to paying subscribers

(May be considered in some publishers’ Big Deal negotiations as well as in alternative-access calculations)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: >

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level:

Further Reading:

Association for Computing Machinery. (n.d.). ACM OPEN (ACM’s Transformative Model for Open Access Publication), https://libraries.acm.org/subscriptions-access/acmopen.

tiered pricing

An artificial pricing structure which applies a set of rules to institutions with shared characteristics such as enrollment, total budget, or Carnegie classification, with higher tiers paying more than lower ones

(Librarians at institutions seeking to raise their research profile or enrollment could educate administrators on the potential for library costs to increase accordingly)

Alternate Terms: price tier

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Price Model

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

title change

The change of a journal’s title to better describe its new scope; may or may not also entail a change in ISSN or publisher

(Librarians conducting subscription analysis may need to know a journal’s title (history of title changes) in order to analyze journal impact factors, usage data, citations history, and other data accurately)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: title transfer

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Serials Section of the Association for Library Collections Technical Services. (2010, February 19). What’s in a name? Presentation guidelines for serial publications, ISSN Center, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/issn/whats.html.

title transfer

The move of a journal from being published by one entity to being published by another

(When a title changes publishers, a library should track the rights and access to previously published content as well as negotiate future access. In some cases, publishers require newly acquired titles to be included in an existing Big Deal, often at an i)

Alternate Terms: publisher change

Related Terms: transfer title,Transfer (standard),title change

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Hutchens, C. (2011). Journal title transfers: The process, the complexities, the problems, and what the Transfer and KBART working groups are doing to address them, Serials Librarian, 61(3–4), 389–395, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2011.617054.

Transfer (standard)

This Code of Practice standardizes the information shared when a publisher acquires a transfer title from another publisher

(May aid in tracking title transfers, verifying which publishers offer which journals)

Alternate Terms: Transfer Code of Practice

Related Terms: title transfer,transfer title

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Standard

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

ISSN/NISO. (2011–2018). Journal Transfer: Enhanced alerting Transfer service, https://journaltransfer.issn.org/search.

Phillpotts, J., Devenport, T., & Mitchell, A. (2015). Evolution of the Transfer Code of Practice, Learned Publishing, 28, 75–79, https://doi.org/10.1087/20150112.

transfer title

A journal that moves from being published by one entity to being published by another

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: title transfer,Transfer (standard),add-on

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels: Journal,Package

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

transformative agreement

Contracts between institutions and publishers that transform the business model underlying scholarly publishing, where institutions repurpose former subscription expenditures to cover OA publishing costs (instead of publishers charging APCs to authors)

(Transformative agreements are providing a transition as work is being done to move to a sustainable scholarly communication model)

Alternate Terms: transformative open access agreement

Related Terms: offsetting agreements,read-and-publish agreement,publish-and-read agreement,portion available open access,subscribe to open

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > License Term,Business Practice,Price Model

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Hinchliffe, L. J. (2019, April 23). Transformative agreements: A primer, The Scholarly Kitchen, https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/04/23/transformative-agreements/.

Max Planck Digital Library. (n.d.). Transformative agreements, ESAC Initiative (Efficiencies and Standards for Article Charges), https://esac-initiative.org/about/transformative-agreements/.

turnaway

An attempt by a user to access content that was denied because their institution lacked a proper license or simultaneous user limits specified in the license were exceeded.

(Turnaways inform libraries’ decisions to add journal titles to a package or individual subscriptions)

Alternate Terms: denial; access denied

Related Terms: cost per use

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Gagnon, S. (2017). Journal publishers’ Big Deal: Are they worth it?, Against the Grain, 29(2), 22–23, 28, https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.7747.

Project COUNTER. (2019, January). Technical specifications for COUNTER reports, COUNTER, https://www.projectcounter.org/code-of-practice-five-sections/3-0-technical-specifications/.

Smith, M. (2019). Living in denial: The relationship between access denied turnaways and ILL requests, Serials Librarian, 75(1–4), 31–41, https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2019.1593914.

type of open access

Journals vary in their level of open access depending on reader rights, reuse rights, copyrights, author posting rights, automatic posting, and machine readability. The level of open access is partially described by types which commonly are Green, Gold, Diamond/Platinum, and Hybrid, which describes how open access can be provided and/or funded through mechanisms such as article processing charges.

(Allows for analysis of alternative access when understanding value a publisher provides)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: article publication charges (APCs)

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice,License Term

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Suber, P. (2012). Varieties, Open Access, MIT Press, 49–76, http://archive.org/details/9780262517638OpenAccess/page/n61/mode/2up?view=theater.

SPARC/Public Library of Science. (2014). How Open Is It? Open Access Spectrum, https://www.plos.org/files/HowOpenIsIt_English.pdf.

Barnes, L. (2020, November 8). Green, gold, diamond, black—what does it all mean?, Open Book Publishers Blog, https://blogs.openbookpublishers.com/green-gold-diamond-black-what-does-it-all-mean/.

Ulrichsweb

Source of bibliographic and publisher information on scholarly journals and popular periodicals

(Ulrich’s provides authoritative information on individual titles, such as their publisher, frequency, history, and whether peer reviewed)

Alternate Terms: Ulrich’s Global Serials Directory

Related Terms:

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Tool

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Intermediate

Further Reading:

Mongeon, P., Siler, K., Archambault, A., Sugimoto, C. R., & Larivière, V. (2021). Collection development in the era of Big Deals, College & Research Libraries, 82(2), 219–236, https://crl.acrl.org/index.php/crl/article/view/24833/32670.

ProQuest. (2021). Frequently asked questions, UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory, https://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/faqs.asp.

Meeks, K. (2018). Ulrichsweb review, Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, 15(1), 26–35, https://doi.org/10.1080/15424065.2018.1432436.

unbundle

Replacing a large journal-package subscription with a smaller à la carte deal

(A generally less cost-effective option for libraries to consider when Big Deals become financially unsustainable or philosophically undesirable)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: Big Deal

Category > Subcategory: Business Practices > Business Practice

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Schonfeld, R. C. (2020, April 13). To bundle or not to bundle? That is the question, The Scholarly Kitchen, https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/04/13/bundle-question/.

Poynder, R. (2020, July 30). Unbundling the Big Deal: An interview with SUNY’s Shannon Pritting, Open and Shut? [blog], https://poynder.blogspot.com/2020/07/unbundling-big-deal-interview-with.html.

Unsub

Tool that combines interlibrary loan, Open Access, and local usage measures to forecast the effects of Big Deal unbundling

(Unsub can put in practical terms the wide-ranging factors that influence post-cancellation access in order to decide whether and how to unbundle a Big Deal)

Alternate Terms: Unpaywall Journals

Related Terms: 1figr

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Tool

Relevant Content Levels:

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

Hinchliffe, L. J. (2020, May 19). Taking a big bite out of the Big Deal, The Scholarly Kitchen, https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/05/19/taking-a-big-bite-out-of-the-big-deal/.

Chawla, D. S. (2020, July 9). This tool is saving universities millions of dollars in journal subscriptions, Science, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd7483.

utility

Volume of use of specific journals at an institution (or in a consortium)

(This theoretical distinction between a journal’s level of use and its actual value may help researchers construct more nuanced models to explain available data)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: quality

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Data > Metric

Relevant Content Levels: Journal

Proficiency Level: Getting Started

Further Reading:

Augustyn, A. (n.d.). Utility and value, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/utility-economics.

value-based analysis

Type of analysis that reveals the value a publisher provides an institution, as well as the value an institution provides a publisher. This type of analysis can be external (looking at competitive offerings) and/or internal (looking at institutional impact). Examples of value-based analysis include competitor comparison, pricing regression analysis, author impact analysis, and usage analysis.

(Provides points to use while bargaining with the publisher.)

Alternate Terms:

Related Terms: competitor comparison, pricing regression analysis, author impact analysis, item-level usage analysis

Category > Subcategory: Assessment Methods > Assessment Method

Relevant Content Levels: Package

Proficiency Level: Advanced

Further Reading:

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