Scholarly Journals: Usage and Impact

Universities Scotland Research Committee

17 March 2010

Michael JubbResearch Information Network

Growth in Numbers of Journals and Articles

Journal growth rate of 3.25% a year since 1860Close, but not linear, relationship with research funding and with R&D workforceUK authors responsible for c 6% of global output of articlesNo-one can read everything in their subject area

The Rise of E-Journals in the UK HE Sector

Impact of the “big deals”Rapid consumer take-upBut limits to researchers’ reading timeEvidence of growth in citations

00

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

Electronic journal titles Print only titles

100

142

189

219

2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

Expenditure and Levels of Usage

Variations in UsageVariations by subjectVariations between institutions

Usage and Outcomes