Elsevier Content Update

The NDSU Libraries, after careful consideration and in order to make improvements while continuing to serve the campus community in the best way possible, is embarking on a two-year pilot project starting January 2025 and continuing through December 2026.

Elsevier journal subscriptions are the number one most expensive resource for the libraries, topping out at nearly $600,000/year. This is also the case for many other academic libraries. Due to these unsustainable costs, a number of academic libraries have moved from a subscription-based model to on-demand article delivery services, enabling libraries to meet research needs at a fraction of the cost.  SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) has complete information on all the academic libraries that have cancelled their big packages, when, which vendor(s), and savings when disclosed. MIT developed the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts to guide their negotiations with publishers, in support of their goals. The above MIT link contains information on background, goals, core principles, and additional information through related articles in the media.

We plan to cancel our subscription for the two-year pilot beginning January 1, 2025. Our pilot will secure an additional Article Delivery service to meet campus needs. Based on MIT and other academic libraries, we anticipate spending 20% of the Elsevier allocated dollars, or approximately $120,000. This will cover the cost of the new “bionic” Article Delivery service that delivers faster, better, and with access to additional unsubscribed journal content. The 20% will also cover any fees assessed for requested individual items. In addition, the new service will provide access to articles from other journal publishers/titles we do not have current subscriptions to, such as Cambridge University Press, Emerald, Nature Publishing Group, Oxford University Press, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Walter de Gruyter, Wiley, and more.

The Libraries previously acquired backfile access (1997 and prior) to hundreds of Elsevier journals, and will continue to provide access to these, Elsevier-published ebooks, and the Compendex database.

Lastly, the Libraries will facilitate several Zoom sessions after the start of 2025 to share details of the new service, answer questions, address concerns, and gather input.

For information on how to use the new article delivery service, Article Galaxy Scholar, see this tutorial: How to Access Articles from Elsevier.