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APS » Journals » APS 2007 Journal Pricing

2007 PRICING MODEL

LETTER TO THE LIBRARY COMMUNITY

PHYSICAL REVIEW, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS,
PHYSICAL REVIEW SPECIAL TOPICS, PHYSICAL REVIEW ONLINE ARCHIVE,
AND REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS

INTRODUCTION

The Council of the APS has established journal prices for 2007. The price change averaged over all tiers and subscription modes is 2.96%. The prices were set assuming a 6% increase in page growth for both 2006 and 2007.

During the past few years the pricing of APS journals has been guided by two principles: the mission of APS to, "Advance and Diffuse the Knowledge of Physics", and the desire to create an equitable sharing of the cost of the publishing the physics literature between the larger research institutions and smaller schools. At the same time we must deal with the annual growth of the journals and a need to continually advance the technology to facilitate reader access. APS has worked to keep the cost of meeting these goals by introducing new technology into our manuscript handling process, working with vendors to use the most effective technologies, and by keeping the net return on the journal enterprise at a minimum (budgeted to be in the single digits). As a result of these efforts, the price per page has declined from:

  • $0.118 in 2001 to a projected $0.085 in 2007 for the tier 1 schools
  • $0.139 to $0.130 over the same period for tier 3 research schools

A complete history of APS journal prices since 2000 can be found at http://librarians.aps.org/pricepage2007.pdf

ONLINE ONLY IN 2007

Online access is the most cost effective and functional method of journal distribution. We price the Online-Only subscription to cover the cost of producing the journal content and electronic distribution. In this way we make the basic material available at the lowest possible cost. The cost of subscribing to the content of Physical Review A-E (PRA-E), Physical Review Letters (PRL), Physical Review Online Archive (PROLA), and Reviews of Modern Physics (RMP), as reflected in the Online-Only subscriptions, will DECREASE for tiers 1 and 2 between 2006 and 2007. The cost will INCREASE for tiers 3, 4 and 5. PROLA, with journal content back to 1893, will continue to be available at no cost to subscribers of the APS packages (PR-All and APS-All) and at a very modest cost to those subscribing to portions of the package. The specific price changes for Online-Only access in 2007 are:

  • Tier 1 Online-Only prices will decrease 3.0%
  • Tier 2 Online-Only prices will decrease 1.0%
  • Tier 3 Online-Only prices will increase 2.0%
  • Tier 4 Online-Only prices will increase 3.0%
  • Tier 5 Online-Only prices will increase 3.5%

The weighted average price change for Online-Only access is an increase of 0.93%.

ONLINE-PLUS-PRINT IN 2007

While Online-Only is the most cost effective method of accessing the physics literature, it is still true that many of our customers continue receiving a copy of the material in the traditional print format. For North American subscribers, the number of institutions going Online-Only is approaching 50%. However, the APS has no agenda to advocate any particular way of receiving the journals.

We price print subscriptions to cover the basic cost of producing the content plus the cost of producing and distributing the print copy. Because of the decline in the number of subscribers purchasing print journals, the fixed setup costs are shared by a steadily decreasing number of customers. The result is an increase in the "surcharge" necessary for adding print to the basic online access. The result is that the Online-plus-Print price is unchanged for Tier 1 and increases for all other tiers. The specific price changes for Online-plus-Print access in 2007 are:

  • Tier 1 Print-plus-Online prices will be unchanged
  • Tier 2 Print-plus-Online prices will increase 2.0%
  • Tier 3 Print-plus-Online prices will increase 5.5%
  • Tier 4 Print-plus-Online prices will increase 6.5%
  • Tier 5 Print-plus-Online prices will increase 7.0%

The weighted average price change for Print-Plus-Online is an increase of 3.99%.

All price changes given above are for APS-ALL and PR-ALL. Individual journals will have the same price changes, except that the price of single title subscriptions to Physical Review C has been adjusted downward by an additional 15% to reflect its slower growth and the prices of Physical Review B and Physical Review E single title subscriptions have been adjusted upward 5% and 4% respectively to account for their exceptional growth in recent years. The price per page of each of the Physical Review journals, A through E, is kept approximately the same for each journal.

ASSUMPTIONS FOR SETTING PRICES FOR 2007

For 2007 it is assumed the size of the journal will grow by 12% from 2005. This is based on a comparable growth in submitted articles in 2005 and preliminary results from 2006. We have now completed the transition to full electronic manuscript handling in the office. This is a major factor in controlling costs. In addition, we continue to work with our vendors to reduce composition and production costs. At the same time it is clear that moderation of prices in the future will require flexibility and creativity in the way publishing is handled, up to and including fundamental changes in the publishing of the physics literature. The APS will continue to work closely with the research community and the library community to address these challenges.
A full listing of prices is available at http://librarians.aps.org/Price07.pdf

The elected Council of the APS sets the prices of the journals after advice by the Publications Oversight Committee (POC). Two representatives of the library community, appointed in consultation with the Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics (PAM) division of the Special Library Association (SLA), attend the POC committee meetings as observers and advisors and their presence has been very constructive. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Debra Bailey, Rice University, and Molly White, University of Texas at Austin for their time, effort, and dedication in serving as librarian advisors for the past year.

Having reviewed the background, philosophy and details of the 2007 APS pricing model, we welcome discussion and comments. If you have any questions or concerns, please write to us at assocpub@aps.org.

Thomas J. McIlrath
Treasurer/Publisher
American Physical Society