Purdue University Finalizes Contract with Elsevier

To:  Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors, and Heads of Schools, Divisions, Departments and Offices

From: Beth McNeil, Dean of Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies

Date:  May 3, 2021

Re: Purdue University Finalizes Contract with Elsevier

After a months’ long negotiation process that included extensive input from faculty, staff, and students, Purdue University and its regional campuses have now finalized a one-year contract with academic publisher Elsevier. The shift from a large, bundled package of Elsevier titles to 578 titles will occur on May 11th, 2021, and reduces Purdue’s total spend with Elsevier by nearly $1.5 million. Purdue deemed the new title-by-title contract necessary after years of increased subscription fees.  With extensive input from faculty, we have developed alternative means to access journals that are not part of the core Elsevier contract.  Our goal has been to reduce the large and increasing cost of the contract, with the least possible impact on convenient access to journals.

The list of 578 subscribed titles can be found here. In addition to the 578 subscribed journals, Purdue will continue to have access to past articles from several hundred other journals to which Purdue University has perpetual access rights.

Faculty, staff, and students at all three Purdue University campuses can request articles from journals not included in the new contract by using their campus library’s Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service. Information about other alternative access tools and methods can be found in the Libraries’ Sustainable Scholarship libguide.

Questions?

West Lafayette: Rebecca Richardson

Purdue Fort Wayne: Nathan Rupp

Purdue Northwest: Tricia Jacquet