Pareto principle; Pareto distribution; the vital few
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Package
Intermediate
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.
take-on title
transfer title
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
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Getting Started
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.
publisher
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
Business Practices
Stakeholder
Access Mechanism
Journal
Package
Getting Started
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.
interlibrary loan
pay-per-view
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Package
Advanced
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 processing charges, publication fee
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
Business Practices
License Term
Business Practice
Price Model
Journal
Intermediate
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.
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/.
corresponding author
local authors
author impact analysis
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Article
Intermediate
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/.
local authors
citation analysis
value-based 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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Package
Advanced
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/.
archive; backlist; back list; back file
frontfile
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
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Package
Getting Started
bundle
unbundle
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 titles
Business Practices
Business Practice
Price Model
Package
Getting Started
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.
formerly whitelist
Subscription database of journals that show evidence of reputable practices
This list of reputable journals can complement other measures of relevance and value
Assessment Methods
Assessment Tool
Journal
Intermediate
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.
formerly blacklist
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Tool
Journal
Intermediate
Cabells. (n.d.). About Predatory Reports, Cabells Scholarly Analytics, https://www2.cabells.com/about-predatory.
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.
print circulation
item-level usage analysis
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Getting Started
Reitz, J. M. (2004–2014). Circulation, Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, https://products.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_c.aspx#circulatinglib.
author impact analysis
cost per citation
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Data
Assessment Method
Data Source
Journal
Intermediate
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.
value-based analysis
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Package
Intermediate
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/.
subscribed titles
perpetual access
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
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Package
Getting Started
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.
author affiliation
local authors
author impact analysis
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
Business Practices
Stakeholder
License Term
Article
Intermediate
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 cited reference
cost per use
cost per impact
citation analysis
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Intermediate
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.
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.
cost per impact factor
cost per use
cost per citation
Eigenfactor
Impact Factor
author impact analysis
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Intermediate
Wilson, J. (2010, March 30). Journal value metrics assessment, CDLINFO, https://cdlib.org/cdlinfo/2010/03/30/journal-value-metrics-assessment/.
nominal cost per use
distributed cost per use
cost per citation
cost per impact
turnaway
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Article
Journal
Getting Started
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.
return on investment
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
Assessment Data
Assessment Methods
Metric
Assessment Method
Journal
Package
Intermediate
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.
Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources
SUSHI
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
Assessment Data
Standard
Data Source
Article
Journal
Getting Started
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.
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.
non-selective package
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
Business Practices
Price Model
Package
Intermediate
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.
journal-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
Assessment Data
Assessment Methods
Metric
Assessment Method
Package
Getting Started
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.
cost per use
nominal 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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Intermediate
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.
COUNTER
cost per use
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Article
Journal
Getting Started
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Package
Getting Started
Impact Factor
cost per impact
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Getting Started
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.
print journal
print+online
Scholarly periodicals delivered in online format
These constitute the substance of a Big Deal subscription
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Getting Started
holdings
frontfile
backfile
perpetual access
core titles
KBART title list
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
Assessment Data
Business Practices
Business Practice
Data Source
Journal
Package
Getting Started
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 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
Assessment Data
Data Source
Package
Intermediate
“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.
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
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/.
frontlist; front list; front file
backfile
Current and recently published volumes of a journal
Frontfile access is the core of most Big Deal negotiations
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Package
Getting Started
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
Assessment Data
Business Practices
Data Source
Business Practice
Article
Intermediate
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/.
Eigenfactor
cost per impact
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Getting Started
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.
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
Assessment Data
Data Source
Getting Started
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.
ILL; resource sharing
alternative access analysis
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
Business Practices
Access Mechanism
Article
Getting Started
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.
value-based analysis
circulation
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Package
Advanced
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/.
deal-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
Assessment Data
Assessment Methods
Metric
Assessment Method
Journal
Getting Started
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.
Knowledge Bases And Related Tools
entitlements
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
Assessment Data
Data Source
Journal
Getting Started
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.
nominal price; sticker price
street 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
Business Practices
Price Model
Journal
Getting Started
institutional authors
local editors
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
Assessment Data
Business Practices
Stakeholder
Metric
Journal
Intermediate
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.
institutional editors
local authors
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
Assessment Data
Business Practices
Stakeholder
Metric
Journal
Intermediate
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.
cost per use
distributed 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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Intermediate
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.
selective package
database model
aggregator
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
Business Practices
Price Model
offset agreement
transformative agreement
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
Business Practices
License Term
Business Practice
Price Model
Intermediate
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/.
article publication charges (APCs)
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
Assessment Data
Business Practices
Metric
Business Practice
Article
Intermediate
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/.
holdings overlap
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Getting Started
Belvadi, M. (2015). Do-it-yourself title overlap comparisons, Charleston Library Conference, https://doi.org/10.5703/128828431626.
token
alternative access analysis
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
Business Practices
Access Mechanism
Article
Intermediate
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.
post-cancellation access
entitlements
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
Business Practices
License Term
Journal
Getting Started
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.
percent available OA
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
Assessment Data
Business Practices
Metric
Business Practice
Journal
Intermediate
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/.
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Article
Journal
Package
Advanced
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.
value-based 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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Package
Advanced
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/.
electronic journal
print+online
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
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Getting Started
electronic free/included with print
print journal
electronic journal
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
Business Practices
Price Model
Business Practice
Journal
Getting Started
PAR agreement
read-and-publish agreement
offsetting agreements
transformative 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
Business Practices
License Term
Business Practice
Price Model
Intermediate
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/.
PAR fee
publish-and-read agreement
reading 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
aggregator
Creator and host of journal content
Party to their respective Big Deal negotiations
Business Practices
Stakeholder
Getting Started
Data describing something’s attributes or properties, categorized into classes
Qualitative data often tells the story behind quantitative data; it helps explain the numbers
Assessment Data
Assessment Methods
Metric
Assessment Method
Article
Journal
Package
Intermediate
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.
utility
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Getting Started
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/.
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.
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
Assessment Data
Assessment Methods
Metric
Assessment Method
Article
Journal
Package
Intermediate
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.
SPSS
Extensible free software environment for statistical analysis and graphing
May be used for processing quantitative data as part of a Big Deal analysis
Assessment Methods
Assessment Tool
Advanced
The R Foundation. (n.d.). Introduction to R, https://www.r-project.org/about.html.
RAP agreement
publish-and-read agreement
offsetting agreements
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.
Business Practices
License Term
Business Practice
Price Model
Intermediate
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/.
read-and-publish fee
read-and-publish agreement
transformative agreement
subscription cost
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
Business Practices
Price Model
Business Practice
License Term
Package
Intermediate
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/.
non-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
Quinn, B. (2001). The impact of aggregator packages on collection management, Collection Management, 25(3), 53–74, https://doi.org/10.1300/J105v25n03_05.
Statistical Product and Service Solutions; Statistical Package for the Social Sciences; IBM SPSS Statistics
R
Statistical software available by subscription
May be used for processing quantitative data as part of a Big Deal analysis
Assessment Methods
Assessment Tool
Advanced
IBM. (n.d.). IBM SPSS Statistics, https://www.ibm.com/products/spss-statistics.
list 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
Business Practices
Price Model
Journal
Intermediate
transformative agreement
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
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 fee
reading fee
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
Business Practices
Price Model
Business Practice
Journal
Getting Started
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/.
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
Association for Computing Machinery. (n.d.). ACM OPEN (ACM’s Transformative Model for Open Access Publication), https://libraries.acm.org/subscriptions-access/acmopen.
price tier
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
Business Practices
Price Model
Journal
Package
Getting Started
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.
title transfer
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
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Getting Started
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.
publisher change
transfer title
Transfer (standard)
title change
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 increased price. The same publishers may or may not reduce the price when titles move to other publishers.
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Package
Getting Started
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 Code of Practice
title transfer
transfer title
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
Assessment Data
Standard
Journal
Intermediate
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.
title transfer
Transfer (standard)
add-on
A journal that moves 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 increased price. The same publishers may or may not reduce the price when titles move to other publishers.
Business Practices
Business Practice
Journal
Package
Getting Started
transformative open access agreement
offsetting agreements
read-and-publish agreement
publish-and-read agreement
portion available open access
subscribe to open
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
Business Practices
License Term
Business Practice
Price Model
Intermediate
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/.
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/.
denial; access denied
cost per use
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Getting Started
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.
article publication charges (APCs)
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
Business Practices
Business Practice
License Term
Journal
Getting Started
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/.
Ulrich’s Global Serials Directory
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Tool
Intermediate
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.
Big Deal
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
Business Practices
Business Practice
Getting Started
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.
Unpaywall Journals
1figr
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
Assessment Methods
Assessment Tool
Advanced
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.
quality
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
Assessment Data
Metric
Journal
Getting Started
Augustyn, A. (n.d.). Utility and value, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/utility-economics.
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.
competitor comparison
pricing regression analysis
author impact analysis
item-level usage 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.
Assessment Methods
Assessment Method
Package
Advanced
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/.