OHSU

Finalized list of journal subscriptions

Every year, the OHSU Library collects and analyzes data about library users, bibliometrics including publishing and citation patterns, collection usage, interlibrary loan requests, faculty purchase requests (we have 68 current journal subscription requests), cost per use, and more. We add and cancel journal subscriptions and modify database and book purchases based on the information we track.

Since 2009, the OHSU Library has added 22 databases, 6,363 print and electronic books, and 157 new journal subscriptions. This fiscal year, the OHSU Library must respond to a 10% collections budget reduction, the first reduction to our collections budget since 2009. Our goal is to preserve the most important resources for the OHSU community. We plan to eliminate low-use resources, whether electronic books, databases, or journals.

We are actively working to support and promote more sustainable publishing models and pricing structures. The OHSU Library is an institutional member of the open access publishers Public Library of Science (PLoS) and BioMed Central (BMC), which reduces the fees OHSU authors pay to publish with PLoS and BMC. This fall, we will launch a campaign to encourage OHSU authors, editorial board members, and reviewers to contact publishers and advocate for improved pricing and copyright practices.

In evaluating journals for possible cancellation, we are cancelling journals that have demonstrated more than three of the following criteria:

  • Low electronic usage over a five-year period
  • No or minimal OHSU publication activity
  • No or minimal OHSU citation activity
  • High rates of price inflation for more than two years
  • Not a core journal title.  Among other measures, a core journal title is defined as a title with high OHSU community usage and publication activity. A journal is also considered core based on its support of OHSU’s education, research and health care missions.

After receiving feedback from the OHSU community, the library is cancelling 59 titles effective in January 2013. We are retaining subscriptions to 9 titles that appeared on our original proposed list of cancellations.

Journal List

Please send comments to Emily McElroy (mcelroye@ohsu.edu, 494-6659)