Journals at risk

Abstract

Interviews and a questionnaire survey have been used to investigate the characteristics of journals which are most likely to be cancelled by British universities when faced with cuts. The number of journals which have been cancelled has also been looked at and the way in which cancellation exercises have been carried out. High prices, large price increases and foreign-language contents play a role in decisions on cancellations. Library and academic staff are in overall agreement on the types of journal to cancel. One difference is that library staff often prefer to weed cheaper journals first, whereas academic staff prefer to cancel fewer, but more expensive, journals.