The Quick Death of Paper Academic Journals?
Justin Bathon on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 12:07PM Received word today that we are considering cutting subscriptions of around 50 education journals. Since Kentucky is still in a relatively moderate financial position, I have to imagine that if we are cutting library budgets, most other states are as well. How will most paper journals cope with this massive drop in support from public libraries? Well, they might have to cut their print editions, even though they have historically tied the print edition to the electronic edition. This article sums it up nicely:
Once given an either-or choice of print or digital, ACS subscribers made their preference clear. "We saw the purchasing market, starting with the institutional libraries, canceling print to such an extent that, when we got through the last renewal season, it was obvious that many of our journals have fallen below the threshold where you could practically consider printing them as a logical choice, much less an economic choice," Nordin said. "Some journals are printed twice a week, they're hundreds of pages, they include four-color graphics. The economics of print no longer worked."
Could the death be a quick one? I think it is possible that the vast majority of academic journals in 5-10 years will be electronic only. Because governmental budgets are typically behind the broader economy, the downturn in the economy over the past few years has only manifested itself substantially in this fiscal year and for the next few. With these budget cuts, I think paper journals are going to suffer especially badly. They are expensive to purchase and they are expensive to bind. They are also expensive to store taking up space that could be devoted to other things, like computer workstations. They are just cost prohibitive in this economic environment and I think the real possibility exists that once we start rolling down this hill, the decline could be quick. Without those institutional subscriptions to subsidize the printing costs, journals may be forced to quickly respond by going to electronic publication only.
What does this mean? I don't know. Maybe not all that much. When is the last time you went to the library and sorted through the stacks to find a print edition of a journal?
Reader Comments (4)
It's been a decade. I hope, hope, hope this happens quickly. I also hope they all go open-access (I'm working on a piece about that right now!)...
I tend to agree with both of you (Justin as to the declining tendency of academics to do their research through paper sources, and Scott as to the desirability of open-access academic journals). There is, however, a lingering devaluation (for tenure, promotion, general reputation) among at least legal academics of publications that only exist in electronic form. It may be irrational, but academics seem to view paper-based law reviews as more enduring and permanent, and thus somehow more authoritative. This is changing with many law journals adopting online supplements and most scholars posting their works on SSRN (true open access), but I can't imagine that any legal academic is going to be happy if the paper versions disappear. Myself, I often find the articles online and read them out of the more comfortable and less eye-straining physical journal in the law library. Many older lawyers still do this even with the cases in the physical case reporters. The education side may switch faster, but I see this happening very slowly, if at all, on the law side.
I do see it going slower, just because law libraries I think are a bit more immune to financial issues, plus many law firms also maintain paper libraries. So, I do think it will be slower - but I also don't think that means paper will survive. Today's law student is likely not searching through the law journal stacks. They are sitting and studying in the library, but always at a laptop - at least that's what I have seen being in many law libraries. As that generation matures, it's hard for me to see them justifying the continuing expenditure on the duplicative paper journals. Only if a large law library continues to keep it's social status symbol will they survive. It's a simple question. Electronic is cheaper, easier, faster, printable and nearly ubiquitous on the legal side. The paper journal is paying for the same information twice in a less useful form. For those that grew up with it, perhaps that is worth the additional price. For those that didn't, no chance.
Yes, I agree with your utilitarian justifications, but there is also the raw matter of prestige. Law journals do not support themselves with subscriptions. If that were so, only a few law journals would exist. Rather, they are supported by the institution as a co-curricular activity to lend prestige to the institution (and employability to the grads). Thus, I do not think that any cost-benefit analysis is going to determine whether journals eliminate paper versions. It will be the perception of the online journal among academics that determines its force. Right or wrong, that's how it works, and right now (aside from the online supplements that many law journals use for short essays and debates), the legal academy does not value purely electronic scholarly publications.