College Librarians Protest STM Pricing for Consumer Magazine Scientific American

Magazine is part of Nature Publishing Group's "new consumer media division"

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 10/13/2009

• Shift in management in June
• Price increase from $39.95 to $299 in print
• Protest by Oberlin Group libraries
• Will other consumer magazines follow trend?

In June, Scientific American was integrated into the Nature Publishing Group (NPG), forming “the heart of a new consumer media division at NPG,” part of Macmillan Publishers. (Also, staff cuts cuts were made in response to a downturn in advertising.)

However, while introductory individual subscriptions to the monthly magazine can be had for $24.97, the publisher has ratcheted up prices for libraries, treating Scientific American like an STM publication, not a consumer one.

That has led more than 50 library directors of liberal arts college libraries and members of the Oberlin Group to protest the 2010 increase from $39.95 to $299 in print and from $1000 to $1500 (depending on the size of the college) for an annual online license. They called the pricing "unreasonable" and said it "hinders our ability to meet the information needs of our library users.”

Reasons for dismay
The increase came as many libraries were in the final stages of renewing their annual subscriptions, giving them little time to consult with users and make a considered decision, the directors wrote. “Secondly, this increase comes during a severe economic recession, when most libraries are cutting costs and are asking publishers and other vendors to preserve long standing relationships by holding down or forgoing price increases,” they added.

Beyond that, they suggested that, “While we understand that all publications need to be financially viable, such a dramatic increase at the present time indicates that shortsighted commercial interests have overturned Scientific American's traditional mission of disseminating scientific knowledge to its broad readership.”

The impact of the STM shift
Nature’s decision to equate Scientific American, a popular magazine of scientific reporting, with STM publishing, which involves peer-reviewed, scholarly research, bodes ill for libraries, Jonathan Miller, director of the Olin Library at Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, told LJ.

Librarians are already very concerned about journal price inflation, he noted. “However, should this problem of journal price inflation now spread to general interest magazines, libraries will have no choice but to rely on other sources for science journalism or see their collections' budgets suffer even more in these tough economic times.”

Publisher’s explanation
Asked to comment by LJ, Nature spokeswoman Grace Baynes said, "We will be responding directly to the signatories. Once we have responded, we will make a statement available to press. We would like to communicate with our customers before commenting further."

Previously, customers were offered the following explanation from Christian Dorbandt, managing director, Consumer Marketing:

In response to seismic changes in magazine publishing, Scientific American has re-examined its business model. In order to continue publishing at the highest level of scientific journalism, Scientific American must price its content at sustainable levels.

Pricing for institutional print subscriptions had been static for years, and did not reflect the size of institution. We have now revised prices for institutional print subscriptions, based on the type of institution, and to take into account anticipated readership based on the number of faculty and students. This brings Scientific American in line with the institutional pricing model adopted by STM publishers.

While the cost of Scientific American may now be high compared to that of other magazines your library may subscribe to, we believe that Scientific American offers significant value to your institution’s faculty and students. We hope you will consider Scientific American’s pre-eminent position in science journalism as you select periodicals for your institution’s library.