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Access

If VCU Libraries breaks a Big Deal, immediate access via the library to some of the journals included in the publisher’s package will be lost. However, VCU Libraries is committed to providing access to the articles you need. The disciplines that are impacted will depend on the journals to which VCU Libraries continues to subscribe. 

For some people, the change will be barely noticeable, amounting to occasionally learning that VCU Libraries does not have immediate access to a needed article. For others, the change will be more noticeable, including not having immediate access to a wider selection of articles from the library. If you find that lack of immediate access presents challenges for your teaching or research, contact us.

Can I still find and access journal articles if the library cancels a journal subscription package?

If VCU Libraries cancels a journal subscription package, immediate access via the library to some of the journals included in the publisher’s package will be lost. However, VCU Libraries is committed to providing access to the articles you need.

In most cases VCU Libraries will retain access to subscribed content from before the date of cancellation. We also provide access to some journal content through third-party aggregators. Finally, individual articles often can be purchased on request by the VCU Libraries and delivered to you almost instantly.

If you can’t access a journal and need an article, here are some options: 

If you find that lack of immediate access presents challenges for your research, teaching, or clinical care, contact us.

What happens when a journal subscription package is canceled?

When a large journal subscription package is canceled, VCU Libraries has the option to subscribe to individual journal titles. When a journal package is under consideration for cancellation, VCU Libraries will seek feedback from the VCU community on journal title use and value. Journals will be evaluated using factors that include librarian subject expertise, article use, journal cost data, VCU’s research focus, journal and article impact data, and VCU author publication data. Every effort will be made to retain highly used titles and those that exhibit a high value. Additionally, alternative means of access will continue to allow faculty and students to get the resources they need for research, teaching, and clinical care.

Why are journals often sold to libraries in large subscription packages?

Large journal subscription packages, sometimes also called “big deals,” are multi-year journal bundle contracts sold by several major vendors, including some of the most important names in scientific publishing, such as Elsevier and Springer Nature. These bundles provide access to all or nearly all of a vendor’s journal content for a bundle price that grows at a fixed annual rate for the life of a contract. Predictable annual cost increases, access to a large collection of journals, and reduced operating costs for managing individual journal subscriptions make these deals attractive to libraries.

Why are libraries exploring new access models beyond large journal packages?

Rising subscription costs for journals has outpaced inflation and the growth of most library budgets, including ours, for many years. This growth is often structurally incorporated into large journal subscription packages, whose contracts obligate libraries to pay compounded-interest growth of 3 - 6 percent a year over a contract lasting from three to five years. As a result, these contracts end up costing as much as 20-30 percent more at the end of the contract period. In addition, years of mergers and acquisitions among publishers and major vendors have created a handful of oligopolies that now dominate scholarly publishing and drive pricing.

Because of these trends, library collections budgets go increasingly and disproportionately to supporting journal packages. These packages have steadily crowded out the ability of libraries to acquire individual journals, books, databases, and other materials from other publishers. As a result, over the past several years, an increasing number of libraries have initiated negotiations with publishers that have resulted in cancellation or transformation of journal packages.

What new access models exist?

On a positive note, trends favoring free open access to scholarship, including more robust policies from federal research funders and philanthropic organizations and increasingly powerful tools for finding free legal versions of articles, have begun to create powerful alternatives to large journal packages and have helped lower the barriers for leaving them. Additionally, VCU Libraries and VIVA, Virginia’s academic library consortium, have agreements with some publishers that cover open access publishing fees for VCU authors.

If you have further questions or need more information, please contact Karen Cary at kcary@vcu.edu

If you can’t access a journal and need an article, here are some options: