Determining Whether Commercial Publishers Overcharge Libraries for Scholarly Journals in the Fields of Science, Technology, and Medicine, with a Semilogarithmic Econometric Model.

The issue of whether commercial publishers overcharge libraries for scholarly journal subscriptions has been an important practical concern for researchers and practicing librarians for decades. Recent studies of the issue have not been able to move the research literature toward a consensus but rather have created more controversy. This study addresses this debate in the fields of science, technology, and medicine. More important, an appropriate research methodology is used, including an effective econometric model, a large sample size, and regression analyses by subject area. The study conclusively shows that commercial publishers indeed overcharge libraries by a large margin. Researchers and librarians are urged to move beyond the debate and to focus their research efforts on more open and innovative ways of improving scholarly communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]