Academic journal costs

The request was successful.

Dear London South Bank University,

For the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, please publish the total amount paid to each of the following publishers for academic journals:

Wiley
Springer*
Elsevier
Taylor & Francis
Sage
Oxford University Press
Cambridge University Press
Nature Publishing Group*
Royal Society of Chemistry
Institute of Physics Publishing

I understand that your expenditure records may be held in academic financial years rather than calendar years. If so, I am happy for the response to be provided in the same format, with figures for 2016/17, 2017/18, and 2018/19. (Although 2019 has not ended yet, my understanding is that payments for access to journals for 2019 are likely to have all been made by now.)

The figures should include payments made directly to the publishers as well as any payments made to subscription agents or intermediaries for the purchase of, and/or access to, the publishers' academic journals. They should also include payment for journal packages such as Jisc Collections agreements, as well as for individual journals. Please include VAT where possible, and indicate whether or not figures include VAT.

* Although Springer Nature is the parent company for these two publishers, my understanding is that Springer journals and Nature journals are still paid for separately, so I think it makes sense to regard these as two different publishers with different expenditure amounts.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Lawson

Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

Dear Stuart Lawson,

Ref FOI 19199 - Freedom of Information Act 2000
We acknowledge the receipt of your request below. Please be informed that
the University is dealing with your request in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
Your request will be subject to any applicable exemptions defined in the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. 
 
Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact.
Please quote the reference above in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team
London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

________________________________________
From: Stuart Lawson [[FOI #606532 email]]
Sent: 22 September 2019 18:09
To: Governance : Freedom of Information
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Academic journal costs

Dear London South Bank University,

For the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, please publish the total amount paid
to each of the following publishers for academic journals:

Wiley
Springer*
Elsevier
Taylor & Francis
Sage
Oxford University Press
Cambridge University Press
Nature Publishing Group*
Royal Society of Chemistry
Institute of Physics Publishing

I understand that your expenditure records may be held in academic
financial years rather than calendar years. If so, I am happy for the
response to be provided in the same format, with figures for 2016/17,
2017/18, and 2018/19. (Although 2019 has not ended yet, my understanding
is that payments for access to journals for 2019 are likely to have all
been made by now.)

The figures should include payments made directly to the publishers as
well as any payments made to subscription agents or intermediaries for the
purchase of, and/or access to, the publishers' academic journals. They
should also include payment for journal packages such as Jisc Collections
agreements, as well as for individual journals. Please include VAT where
possible, and indicate whether or not figures include VAT.

* Although Springer Nature is the parent company for these two publishers,
my understanding is that Springer journals and Nature journals are still
paid for separately, so I think it makes sense to regard these as two
different publishers with different expenditure amounts.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Lawson

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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-------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright in this email and in any attachments belongs to London South
Bank University. This email, and its attachments if any, may be
confidential or legally privileged and is intended to be seen only by the
person to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient,
please note the following: (1) You should take immediate action to notify
the sender and delete the original email and all copies from your computer
systems; (2) You should not read copy or use the contents of the email nor
disclose it or its existence to anyone else. The views expressed herein
are those of the author(s) and should not be taken as those of London
South Bank University, unless this is specifically stated. London South
Bank University is a company limited by guarantee registered in England
and Wales. The following details apply to London South Bank University:
Company number - 00986761; Registered office and trading address - 103
Borough Road London SE1 0AA; VAT number - 778 1116 17 Email address -
[email address]

hide quoted sections

Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

2 Attachments

Dear Stuart Lawson

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Information Request Ref: FOI 19199

Further to your Freedom of Information request on 22 September 2019,
London South Bank University (LSBU) has now considered your request and
completed its search for the information requested. Our response is
attached. We hope it meets your requirements.

 Kind regards,

 

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team

London South Bank University

103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA

Email: [1][London South Bank University request email]

 

 

From: Governance : Freedom of Information
Sent: 23 September 2019 10:39
To: Stuart Lawson <[FOI #606532 email]>
Cc: Governance : Freedom of Information <[London South Bank University request email]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Academic journal costs - FOI
19199

 

Dear Stuart Lawson,

Ref FOI 19199 - Freedom of Information Act 2000
We acknowledge the receipt of your request below. Please be informed that
the University is dealing with your request in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
Your request will be subject to any applicable exemptions defined in the
Freedom of Information Act 2000. 
 
Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact.
Please quote the reference above in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team
London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [2][London South Bank University request email]

________________________________________
From: Stuart Lawson [[FOI #606532 email]]
Sent: 22 September 2019 18:09
To: Governance : Freedom of Information
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Academic journal costs

Dear London South Bank University,

For the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, please publish the total amount paid
to each of the following publishers for academic journals:

Wiley
Springer*
Elsevier
Taylor & Francis
Sage
Oxford University Press
Cambridge University Press
Nature Publishing Group*
Royal Society of Chemistry
Institute of Physics Publishing

I understand that your expenditure records may be held in academic
financial years rather than calendar years. If so, I am happy for the
response to be provided in the same format, with figures for 2016/17,
2017/18, and 2018/19. (Although 2019 has not ended yet, my understanding
is that payments for access to journals for 2019 are likely to have all
been made by now.)

The figures should include payments made directly to the publishers as
well as any payments made to subscription agents or intermediaries for the
purchase of, and/or access to, the publishers' academic journals. They
should also include payment for journal packages such as Jisc Collections
agreements, as well as for individual journals. Please include VAT where
possible, and indicate whether or not figures include VAT.

* Although Springer Nature is the parent company for these two publishers,
my understanding is that Springer journals and Nature journals are still
paid for separately, so I think it makes sense to regard these as two
different publishers with different expenditure amounts.

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Lawson

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #606532 email]

Is [4][London South Bank University request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests
to London South Bank University? If so, please contact us using this form:
[5]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:
[7]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright in this email and in any attachments belongs to London South
Bank University. This email, and its attachments if any, may be
confidential or legally privileged and is intended to be seen only by the
person to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient,
please note the following: (1) You should take immediate action to notify
the sender and delete the original email and all copies from your computer
systems; (2) You should not read copy or use the contents of the email nor
disclose it or its existence to anyone else. The views expressed herein
are those of the author(s) and should not be taken as those of London
South Bank University, unless this is specifically stated. London South
Bank University is a company limited by guarantee registered in England
and Wales. The following details apply to London South Bank University:
Company number - 00986761; Registered office and trading address - 103
Borough Road London SE1 0AA; VAT number - 778 1116 17 Email address -
[email address]

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[London South Bank University request email]
2. mailto:[London South Bank University request email]
3. mailto:[FOI #606532 email]
4. mailto:[London South Bank University request email]
5. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/change_re...
6. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...
7. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

hide quoted sections

Dear Data Protection and Information Compliance Team

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of London South Bank University's handling of my FOI request 'Academic journal costs'.

Thank you for providing some of the information, this is very helpful. However, I disagree with your reasoning for refusing some of the data, and believe that you should release the full information. I have sent the same request to all higher education institutions in the UK, and the majority have now responded to the request by releasing the data. This is publicly available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3659970

As a reminder, you have already released expenditure figures for previous years, e.g. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a.... The full dataset for all institutions in previous years is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1186... and https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4542....

Since negotiations with for journal agreements usually occur on a sector-wide level through a single central negotiator – Jisc Collections – it is not in your institution’s interest for figures to remain secret. Indeed, full transparency of these figures can show your institution how much comparable institutions are paying, allowing you to understand whether you are receiving appropriate value from your payments. The current situation is almost complete transparency with regards to the amounts paid by UK institutions to most of the major journal publishers. This means that any secrecy is solely to the advantage of the publishers, not yourself.

Finally, I believe there is a high public interest in releasing the data, as evidenced by the high level of engagement with earlier data releases (https://figshare.altmetric.com/details/2...) and news articles about it (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/new...). It has directly informed UK government policy documents (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...). The publishing sector is moving towards greater transparency, such as through the forthcoming Plan S requirements (https://www.coalition-s.org/principles-a...). To be accountable for the expenditure of public funds, and to align your practices with best practice across the sector, I urge you again to release the full information.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Lawson

Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

Dear Stuart Lawson

Ref FOI 19199 Review - Freedom of Information Act 2000

We acknowledge the receipt of your request below for an internal review of our response to FOI 19199. Please be informed that the University is dealing with your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will aim to carry out the review within 20 working days, or in exceptional circumstances within 40 working days.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact. Please quote the reference above in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team
London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

-----Original Message-----
From: Stuart Lawson [mailto:[FOI #606532 email]]
Sent: 01 March 2020 11:52
To: Governance : Freedom of Information <[London South Bank University request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Academic journal costs

Dear Data Protection and Information Compliance Team

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of London South Bank University's handling of my FOI request 'Academic journal costs'.

Thank you for providing some of the information, this is very helpful. However, I disagree with your reasoning for refusing some of the data, and believe that you should release the full information. I have sent the same request to all higher education institutions in the UK, and the majority have now responded to the request by releasing the data. This is publicly available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3659970

As a reminder, you have already released expenditure figures for previous years, e.g. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a.... The full dataset for all institutions in previous years is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1186... and https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4542....

Since negotiations with for journal agreements usually occur on a sector-wide level through a single central negotiator – Jisc Collections – it is not in your institution’s interest for figures to remain secret. Indeed, full transparency of these figures can show your institution how much comparable institutions are paying, allowing you to understand whether you are receiving appropriate value from your payments. The current situation is almost complete transparency with regards to the amounts paid by UK institutions to most of the major journal publishers. This means that any secrecy is solely to the advantage of the publishers, not yourself.

Finally, I believe there is a high public interest in releasing the data, as evidenced by the high level of engagement with earlier data releases (https://figshare.altmetric.com/details/2...) and news articles about it (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/new...). It has directly informed UK government policy documents (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...). The publishing sector is moving towards greater transparency, such as through the forthcoming Plan S requirements (https://www.coalition-s.org/principles-a...). To be accountable for the expenditure of public funds, and to align your practices with best practice across the sector, I urge you again to release the full information.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Lawson

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #606532 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the ICO:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright in this email and in any attachments belongs to London South Bank University. This email, and its attachments if any, may be confidential or legally privileged and is intended to be seen only by the person to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, please note the following: (1) You should take immediate action to notify the sender and delete the original email and all copies from your computer systems; (2) You should not read copy or use the contents of the email nor disclose it or its existence to anyone else. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and should not be taken as those of London South Bank University, unless this is specifically stated. London South Bank University is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales. The following details apply to London South Bank University: Company number - 00986761; Registered office and trading address - 103 Borough Road London SE1 0AA; VAT number - 778 1116 17 Email address - [email address]

hide quoted sections

Governance : Freedom of Information, London South Bank University

2 Attachments

Dear Stuart Lawson,

Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Information Internal Review Request Ref: FOI 19199

Further to your Freedom of Information internal review request on 01 March 2020, London South Bank University (LSBU) has now considered your request and completed its internal review.
Our response is attached.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team
London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

-----Original Message-----
From: Governance : Freedom of Information
Sent: 04 March 2020 10:23
To: 'Stuart Lawson' <[FOI #606532 email]>
Cc: Governance : Freedom of Information <[London South Bank University request email]>
Subject: RE: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Academic journal costs

Dear Stuart Lawson

Ref FOI 19199 Review - Freedom of Information Act 2000

We acknowledge the receipt of your request below for an internal review of our response to FOI 19199. Please be informed that the University is dealing with your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We will aim to carry out the review within 20 working days, or in exceptional circumstances within 40 working days.

Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in contact. Please quote the reference above in any future communications.

Kind regards,

Data Protection and Information Compliance Team London South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
Email: [London South Bank University request email]

-----Original Message-----
From: Stuart Lawson [mailto:[FOI #606532 email]]
Sent: 01 March 2020 11:52
To: Governance : Freedom of Information <[London South Bank University request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Academic journal costs

Dear Data Protection and Information Compliance Team

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of London South Bank University's handling of my FOI request 'Academic journal costs'.

Thank you for providing some of the information, this is very helpful. However, I disagree with your reasoning for refusing some of the data, and believe that you should release the full information. I have sent the same request to all higher education institutions in the UK, and the majority have now responded to the request by releasing the data. This is publicly available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3659970

As a reminder, you have already released expenditure figures for previous years, e.g. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a.... The full dataset for all institutions in previous years is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1186... and https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4542....

Since negotiations with for journal agreements usually occur on a sector-wide level through a single central negotiator – Jisc Collections – it is not in your institution’s interest for figures to remain secret. Indeed, full transparency of these figures can show your institution how much comparable institutions are paying, allowing you to understand whether you are receiving appropriate value from your payments. The current situation is almost complete transparency with regards to the amounts paid by UK institutions to most of the major journal publishers. This means that any secrecy is solely to the advantage of the publishers, not yourself.

Finally, I believe there is a high public interest in releasing the data, as evidenced by the high level of engagement with earlier data releases (https://figshare.altmetric.com/details/2...) and news articles about it (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/new...). It has directly informed UK government policy documents (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...). The publishing sector is moving towards greater transparency, such as through the forthcoming Plan S requirements (https://www.coalition-s.org/principles-a...). To be accountable for the expenditure of public funds, and to align your practices with best practice across the sector, I urge you again to release the full information.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Yours faithfully,

Stuart Lawson

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #606532 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the ICO:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright in this email and in any attachments belongs to London South Bank University. This email, and its attachments if any, may be confidential or legally privileged and is intended to be seen only by the person to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, please note the following: (1) You should take immediate action to notify the sender and delete the original email and all copies from your computer systems; (2) You should not read copy or use the contents of the email nor disclose it or its existence to anyone else. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and should not be taken as those of London South Bank University, unless this is specifically stated. London South Bank University is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales. The following details apply to London South Bank University: Company number - 00986761; Registered office and trading address - 103 Borough Road London SE1 0AA; VAT number - 778 1116 17 Email address - [email address]

hide quoted sections