American Geophysical Union 2008 Journal Subscription Prices

[Karine Blaufuss <KBlaufuss@agu.org>]

American Geophysical Union Announces 2008 Subscription Prices

In 2008, AGU will continue the practice started in 2006 to charge 
the subscriber only for the service being provided. Concretely, 
this means that subscribers who want only the electronic version 
will not bear the costs associated solely with the print product.

One major change for 2008 is the introduction of a new product. 
Libraries will be able to access all AGU journals back from 
volume 1, issue 1 and through 2002 plus hundreds of books. Access 
to this digital library will be available through a yearly 
institutional subscription at a very affordable price. A full 
description of this new product can be found at 
http://www.agu.org/pubs/DigitalLibDesc.pdf

For most AGU journals, 2008 prices for subscriptions to the 
electronic version will remain unchanged or will record a modest 
increase. For two journals and two sections of the Journal of 
Geophysical Research, prices will actually decrease by as much as 
10%. For three journals, rates will increase by 6% to 8%. This 
increase is due to a surge in manuscript submission and the 
additional manpower required to handle it.

Prices for subscriptions to the print version will generally 
continue their upward trend.  For several journals, AGU was able 
to limit the increase to less than 10%. Unfortunately most of the 
print-only subscription prices have increased more, between 11% 
and 24%. The root of this increase is twofold. First, the ongoing 
replacement of print subscriptions by online-only subscriptions 
at many institutions has resulted in a smaller pool of 
subscribers to support the cost of producing a print product. 
Second, the overall cost of producing and mailing a print product 
has greatly increased on its own, due to higher paper prices and 
punishing new postal rates introduced in 2007. Basically, a 
higher cost has to be distributed among a smaller number of 
subscriptions. This trend is not expected to slow and there will 
come a time when print will not be economically feasible.

The electronic version is the journal of record for AGU 
publications. The medium offers speed and ease of publication as 
well as new dynamic formats unavailable with a print product. AGU 
has endeavored to create high quality electronic journals with 
long term usability and reliability in mind.

Prices and terms can be found at
http://www.agu.org/pubs/Institution_Rates_2008.pdf

Judy C. Holoviak, Deputy Executive Director
 and Director of Publications

--
Karine S. Blaufuss
Group Manager, Marketing & Membership
AGU
kblaufuss@agu.org
www.agu.org