RE: American Academy of Pediatrics 2004 Pricing

["David Goodman" <David.Goodman@liu.edu>]

Note some interesting features:

1. Your top category has no fixed price -- since it includes national
licenses, I suppose that's not unreasonable, but how you implement it will
obviously make a difference.  For example, though it does not apply to
either of my institutions, what is the price for a doctoral granting
university (tier 3) that also has a medical school (tier 3) and wants only
1 print copy?

2. Your curve is very shallow--the difference between tier 1 and tier 4 is
only 13 to 14 percent, both for online only and also for online plus one
print. This is very different from most such curves I have seen.

3. The concept of charging a 30% add-on for each extra print copy seems
like a splendid one for accomodating different institutions realistically.

May some other journals in your subject follow your example--I do not
think I need name them here.


-----Original Message----- 
From: Michael Clarke [mailto:MClarke@aap.org]
Sent: Thu 8/21/2003 2:43 PM 
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu Cc:  
Subject: American Academy of Pediatrics 2004 Pricing

The American Academy of Pediatrics is pleased to introduce 2004
subscription rates for our suite of periodicals:

AAP Grand Rounds
AAP News
NeoReviews.org
Pediatrics
Pediatrics in Review

For pricing details please see:
http://www.aappublications.org/subscriptions/subscription_rates.shtml

Although we tried to create a fair subscription model for 2003, we heard
from many of you that our model did not meet your needs.  We have listened
to your feedback and made substantive changes for 2004.

The AAP fundamentally differs from other professional membership societies
in that our primary mission is both scientific and educational and is
focused on the health of all children.  Most of our publications receive
little financial support from the AAP. As such, our institutional
subscribers are of great importance to our sustainability. Traditionally
we have relied on income from advertising to offset many of our production
costs. However, beginning in 2001 our advertising income declined
dramatically as a result of dreary economic conditions and the move
towards direct-to-consumer advertising by the pharmaceutical industry. Due
to this decline in advertising revenue, and increased print and online
production costs, we were forced to raise rates in 2003 for the first time
in years.

In response to your concerns we are happy to announce that campus-wide
online access will be included with all print subscriptions beginning in
2004.  We are retaining a tiered pricing structure for online access;
however, our model is no longer based on the number of FTEs, but rather on
the type of subscribing organization (please see
http://www.aappublications.org/subscriptions/tier.shtml for details). We
think this model will not only fairly assess subscription rates, but will
also better meet the diverse needs of the wide variety of organizations
that we are fortunate to count among our subscribers.

The price for each of our tiers has been realigned such that most
subscribers will see a substantive drop in costs. Subscribers who elected
print-only options in 2003 will see a modest price increase, but for this
will be receiving both print and online access. Institutions who want more
than one print copy can order additional print subscriptions at 2003 print
rates-there will be no increase.  Online-only access will remain available
for subscribers who no longer wish to receive print. We hope this new
structure will better balance the needs of subscribers with the ability of
the AAP to continue to offer high-quality publications and professional
periodicals.

In addition to including online access with all print subscriptions, the
AAP is continuing to invest in new technologies and features in order to
make our publications even more useful to readers. Later this year
Pediatrics and AAP Grand Rounds will begin delivering content in PDA
format that readers can download to their handheld devices. Pediatrics
will feature a more sophisticated search engine that will provide instant
subject indexing, allowing users to search more effectively in less time.
And NeoReviews.org will offer a new subject collection that will pool
neonatology articles from a variety of sources in one convenient location.

Institutional subscribers to any AAP periodical now receive free access to
Pediatric Asthma (www.pediatric-asthma.org). A partnership between the AAP
and the BMJ Publishing Group, Pediatric Asthma is a "virtual journal" that
culls content from over 30 different publications.  Additionally, the AAP
has recently launched AAP Policy (www.aappolicy.org), a free online
collection of Academy policy and position papers on a wide variety of
topics.

All AAP periodicals are COUNTER compliant so that you can effectively
evaluate usage and make informed purchasing decisions for your
organization.

We look forward to your continued patronage.