[GOAL] EBSCO Serials Price Projections for 2014 recognizes rising impact of open access; highlights perils of continued publisher consolidation

[Omega Alpha | Open Access]

EBSCO Serials Price Projections for 2014 recognizes rising impact of open access; highlights perils of continued publisher consolidation
http://wp.me/p20y83-PE
 
EBSCO Information Services is not only a well-known database aggregator of academic journal literature and e-books, they also manage the purchase of print and electronic journal subscriptions for libraries and institutions (its original business). The other day I received EBSCO’s Serials Price Projections for 2014 (September 26, 2013) http://www2.ebsco.com/en-us/Documents/PriceProjections2014.pdf. The main point was delivered to us unceremoniously, right at the top:
 
At the time of writing, we expect the overall effective publisher price increases for academic and academic/medical libraries for 2014 (before currency impact) to be in the range of 6 to 8 percent.
 
Since I have become used to budgeting a 10 percent annual increase for journals over the last several years this sounds almost (keyword) like a bargain.
 
Beyond this news, there were some interesting bits in their assessment of Market Dynamics, which included a strong awareness of the evolving impact of open access, despite the continuing dominance of the pay-for-access model. …
 
Your comments are welcome.

Gary F. Daught
Omega Alpha | Open Access
http://oaopenaccess.wordpress.com
Advocate for open access academic publishing in religion and theology
oa.openaccess at gmail dot com | @OAopenaccess