ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO AGRONOMY JOURNALS: A

FOLLOW-UP STUDYBrad Brazzeal

Agriculture, Forest Resources & Extension Librarian

AGRONOMY IS …“that branch of agriculture devoted to the theory, practice, and scientific management of soil, land, and field-crop production”

Lewis, R. A. (2002). CRC Dictionary of Agricultural Sciences. Boca Raton: CRC Press.

OVERVIEWThis study provides two snapshots of electronic availability of JCR listed agronomy journals at 8 ARL libraries serving institutions with doctoral programs in agronomy.

First snapshot taken in 2007, and the follow-up was in 2013.

PATRON EXPECTATIONS“Information-seekers … expect seamless access to

resources such as full text e-journals, online foreign-language materials, e-books, a variety of electronic publishers’ platforms, and virtual reference desk

services.” (emphasis added)

Connaway, L., Dickey, T. J., & Radford, M. L. (2011). “If it is too inconvenient I'm not going after it:” Convenience as a critical factor in information-seeking

behaviors. Library & Information Science Research, 33, 179-190.

Why am I being asked

to pay for this article? Why can’t I

access the most recent issue of this journal?

Does the library provide

access to SpringerLink?

SOME COMMON QUESTIONS

RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR THIS STUDYTo what extent are research libraries providing online access to agronomy journals?

How is this access provided? Direct from publishers? Through aggregators? Other sources or a combination?

How has this access changed over time?

METHODOLOGYCriteria for journal selection

Inclusion in the agronomy category of the 2005 Journal Citation Reports (n=47)

Criteria for library selection Member of the Association of Research Libraries PhD program in agronomy Allowed access to e-journals list without authentication

METHODOLOGYLibraries at the following institutions met the criteria

Cornell University Louisiana State University Oklahoma State University Pennsylvania State University Texas Tech University University of Florida University of Georgia University of Wisconsin

A convenience sample rather than a random sample

METHODOLOGYSearched the e-journals list of each library (and catalog when needed)

Made screen-shots of the holdings for each journalCreated an Excel spreadsheetLimited analysis to access under current title

RESULTS Journals with no e-access at any of the institutionsCurrent access vs. embargoed/limited* accessAggregator dependent accessAccess to all issues by major publishers JSTOR accessGold open access

* “Limited” is used to describe access that stopped at a certain point for reasons such as journal cancellations.

JOURNALS WITH NO E-ACCESS IN 2007

The following journals were not available in electronic format at any of the 8 institutions in 2007.

Advances in Agronomy

Allelopathy Journal

American Journal of Potato Research

Biological Agriculture & Horticulture

Cereal Research Communications

International Sugar Journal

Journal of the American Pomological Society

Maydica

Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi-Journal of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry

Seed Science & Technology

Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida Proceedings

Tropical Grasslands

JOURNALS WITH NO E-ACCESS IN 2013The journals in bold were not available in electronic format at any of the 8 institutions in 2013.

Advances in Agronomy

Allelopathy Journal

American Journal of Potato Research

Biological Agriculture & Horticulture

Cereal Research Communications

International Sugar Journal

Journal of the American Pomological Society

Maydica

Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi-Journal of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry

Seed Science & Technology

Soil and Crop Science Society of Florida Proceedings

Tropical Grasslands

NEW ACCESS BY AGGREGATOR ONLY

Allelopathy Journal Academic Search Complete (2009-present) Four institutions had access

Journal of the American Pomological Society ProQuest Research Library (2001-2010) Three institutions had access

The journals below were only available through aggregators at the institutions studied in 2013.

CURRENT ACCESS VS. EMBARGOED/LIMITED ACCESSInstitution Current

Access 2007Current

Access 2013Embargoed/ Limited 2007

Embargoed/ Limited 2013

Institution 1 33 36 0 3

Institution 2 32 40 1 0

Institution 3 31 39 2 1

Institution 4 29 36 3 5

Institution 5 29 38 2 1

Institution 6 21 33 6 2

Institution 7 22 35 4 4

Institution 8 15 32 6 5

Average 26.5 36.1 3 2.6

“Limited” is used to describe access that stopped at a certain point for reasons such as journal cancellations.

AGGREGATOR DEPENDENCEInstitution Aggregator

Only Access in 2007

Aggregator Only Access

in 2013

Access Complemente

d by Aggregators

in 2007

Access Complemente

d by Aggregators

2013

Institution 1 0 1 1 2

Institution 2 1 1 2 5

Institution 3 0 1 2 1

Institution 4 0 4 0 0

Institution 5 1 0 2 2

Institution 6 5 3 1 1

Institution 7 1 1 2 1

Institution 8 4 4 5 2

Average 1.5 1.9 1.9 1.8

ACCESS TO ALL ISSUES BY MAJOR PUBLISHERS Four current publishers accounted for 30 titles

Elsevier Springer

Acquired two of the journals between 2007 and 2013 Taylor & Francis

Acquired three of the journals between 2007 and 2013 Wiley-Blackwell

Following charts show access to the complete run of the journals, regardless of source

For consistency, even one year of no access was counted as not having access to all issues

ACCESS TO ELSEVIER TITLESJournal Title and Year of First Publication Under Title

Institutions with Access to All in 2007

Institutions with Access to All in 2013

Advances in Agronomy (1949) 0 0

Agricultural & Forest Meteorology (1984)

4 7

Agricultural Water Management (1976)

4 7

Crop Protection (1982) 4 7

European Journal of Agronomy (1992*)

0 0

Field Crops Research (1978) 4 7

Industrial Crops & Products (1992) 2 6

Postharvest Biology & Technology (1991)

4 7* Access in ScienceDirect started with volume 5 (1996) at 7 institutions and with volume 8 (1998) at the other.

ACCESS TO SPRINGER TITLES Journal Title and Year of First Publication Under Title

Institutions with Access to All in 2007

Institutions with Access to All in 2013

Agroforestry Systems (1982) 0 6

Agronomie (1981) (changed to Agronomy for Sustainable Development in 2005*)

0 1

American Journal of Potato Research (1998*)

0 8

Euphytica (1952) 0 6

European Journal of Plant Pathology (1994)

0 6

Genetic Resources & Crop Evolution (1992)

0 6

Molecular Breeding (1995) 0 6

Plant & Soil (1948) 0 6

Theoretical & Applied Genetics (1968) 0 6

* Titles moved to Springer in 2011 and 2008 respectively. ** In 2007, earliest access to Springer titles was 1996.

ACCESS TO TAYLOR & FRANCIS TITLESJournal Title and Year of First Publication Under Title

Institutions with Access to All in 2007

Institutions with Access to All in 2013

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica B (1992) 0 0

Biological Agriculture & Horticulture (1982*)

0 0

Communications in Soil Science & Plant Analysis (1970)

0 2

New Zealand Journal of Crop & Horticultural Science (1989**)

0 2

Soil Science & Plant Nutrition (1961***) 0 4* Formerly published by AB Academic Press.** Moved to Taylor & Francis in 2010*** Published by Wiley-Blackwell 2005-2010 then moved to Taylor & Francis.

ACCESS TO WILEY-BLACKWELL TITLESJournal Title and Year of First Publication Under Title

Institutions with Access to All in 2007

Institutions with Access to All in 2013

Grass & Forage Science (1979) 1 5*

Irrigation & Drainage (2001) 5 8

Journal of Agronomy & Crop Science (1986)

2 7**

Journal of Plant Nutrition & Soil Science (1999)

5 7

Pest Management Science (2000) 5 8

Plant Breeding (1986) 1 3

Plant Pathology (1952) 1 4*

Weed Research (1961) 0 6** One institution depended upon Environment Complete for access to issues before 1995 or 1996.** Access for 1986-1996 only through EBSCO aggregators at the 7 institutions.

JSTOR ACCESSOf all 47 journals, only 2 included in JSTOR

Weed Science Weed Technology

Current access through BioOneAll institutions had access to all issues of these journals

GOLD OPEN ACCESSBreeding Science (1999-present) Journal of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry (1924-2004) (title ceased in 2004)

Maydica (2002-present)Plant Production Science (1998-present)Tropical Grasslands (1967-2010) (title ceased in 2010)

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONAccess to e-journal content increased from 2007 to 2013, but online access is far from complete

Aggregators continue to be an important source of content at some research libraries

Journals published by agronomy-related societies have made some movements towards open access

THANK YOU!

Brad Brazzeal

Agriculture, Forest Resources & Extension Librarian

Mississippi State University Libraries

bbrazzeal@library.misstate.edu

QUESTIONS?