The mission of Collection Services and the Collections Policy of the McGill Libraries is to build and maintain collections of quality, in analog and digital formats, through the selection and management of library resources required to support the University’s programs of teaching, learning and research. We strive to include materials in our collection that reflect equity, diversity and inclusion.
The following factors affect the Libraries’ ability to subscribe to journals and databases.
Budgetary constraints
Approximately 78% of the total collection budget is allocated to ongoing journal and database subscriptions. In addition, the Libraries must absorb the annual price increases from journal publishers, which typically range from 3% to 8%, before accounting for currency fluctuations. Similar increases apply to research databases. Because budget growth does not keep pace with these rising costs, securing ongoing funding for new subscriptions remains a significant challenge.
Nearly all subscriptions are paid in foreign currencies. Exchange rate fluctuations can affect both the acquisition of new resources and the renewal of existing subscriptions. Combined with annual price increases and recurring subscription commitments, these fluctuations add complexity to the budgeting process.
Continued proliferation of journals
The number of published journals continues to grow exponentially, with publishers adding new increasingly specialized or companion journals each year. It is rarely possible to subscribe to each new journal as our budget does not increase at a rate that supports ongoing additions.
Bundled content
Frequently, our journal and database subscriptions may be part of bundled packages (aka “big deals”) where the provider offers only an all-or-nothing subscription. In other words, libraries cannot pick and choose which individual titles on a platform or journal package they subscribe to. Sometimes McGill Libraries will negotiate multi-year package subscriptions to obtain better rates over several years. This category includes Read and Publish agreements, also known as transformative agreements (agreements that combine subscription access with publishing fees) where our subscriptions also cover article publishing charges (APCs) for McGill authors.
Aggregated Content
McGill Libraries subscribes to platforms that aggregate journal title access. The Libraries do not control which titles appear in these offerings, and titles may be added or removed without notice.
Consortia
A significant portion of our journal and database subscriptions is obtained through consortial license agreements negotiated with content providers on our behalf by the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and Partenariat des bibliothèques universitaires du Québec (PBUQ). These agreements are also usually multi-year package subscriptions.
The combination of bundled content, aggregated content, and consortial agreements provides rich and varied journal and database content across disciplines; it also reduces the Libraries’ ability to make individual choices about journal or database subscriptions and may lead to duplicate access across several providers.
Journal embargoes
Some journals impose embargoes on third-party aggregators for their most recent content. Access may be delayed up to several years. In these cases, you may still be able to obtain the most recent articles through InterLibrary Loan.
InterLibrary Loan (ILL)
Material not available at McGill Libraries or via Network Loan may be requested through InterLibrary Loan. We will attempt to obtain a copy of the article or chapter required to support your scholarly needs. Please consult the Policies tab and the FAQ tab for additional information on the material that may be obtained via ILL.