The Structure of the Library Market for Scientific Journals: The Case of Chemistry

Abstract

In this paper, the author analyzes the skewed distributions of price and scientific value that constitute the structure of the library market for scientific journals, using chemistry as a test case. A numerical index constructed from a survey of Louisiana State University chemistry faculty and total citations taken from the Science Citation Index Journal Citation Reports were utilized as measures of scientific value. Methodological problems arise from the skewed distributions customary in library research. The major findings are(1) that scientific value does not play a role in the pricing of scientific journals and (2) that little relationship consequently exists between scientific value and the prices charged libraries for scientific journals. Libraries have the opportunity to implement a massive restructuring of their serials collections. A Software package named the Serials Evaluator is described. Under development at Louisiana State University, it is software for the automated selection of journals for cancellation and remote access through document delivery.