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What is "subscription fatigue" and how is it affecting libraries and researchers?

Our library keeps cancelling journal subscriptions, and my dean talks about "subscription fatigue." What does this mean, and why is it happening? How does this affect my ability to access the literature I need?

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By Govind Answered 1 month ago

Subscription fatigue is a financial crisis in academia. For decades, major publishers have increased subscription costs far above inflation, often by bundling journals into "Big Deal" packages that libraries must accept or lose access to key titles. Library budgets are flat or shrinking, leading to impossible choices—cancel the Big Deal and lose hundreds of journals, or cut monographs, databases, and other resources. This directly limits your access as a researcher, creating gaps in your library's holdings. It's a primary driver for the open access movement and institutional support for preprint servers. Libraries are now aggressively negotiating transformative agreements and supporting non-commercial publishing models to break this cycle. As a researcher, you can advocate for open access publishing and use inter-library loan (though slower) for paywalled articles.

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