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Post-termination Access Policy for Journals on ScienceDirect
Tony McSeán
The post-termination access policy for journals on ScienceDirect, outlined below, covers the options available to non-corporate ScienceDirect customers who decide to cancel either individual journal titles or their whole ScienceDirect contract.
The principle underlying this policy is that when a customer licenses access to a journal on ScienceDirect, the customer is, in effect, buying the right to access, in perpetuity, the content of that journal for every year for which the customer paid a full electronic subscription.
In the case of termination of a ScienceDirect license there are two options by which customers can retain access to the journal content they have purchased from Elsevier:
Option 1. Customers can receive the raw data, formatted in SGML/XML and PDF and then copied onto CD or tape. Customers can then arrange to mount this data locally. This is the option provided in all ScienceDirect licenses. Customers who choose this option will be charged a one-time flat fee to cover processing costs.
Option 2. Customers can retain access via ScienceDirect. At our customers’ request this option was introduced subsequent to Option 1, and it is now available to all customers with ScienceDirect licenses, regardless of what is stated in individual contracts. Customers who choose this option will be charged an annual fee. This fee consists of a fixed portion (US $5,000 in 2005) and a variable amount calculated on the number of full-text article downloads in the preceding year (US $0.25 per download in 2005).
If a customer cancels individual journal titles but remains a licensed customer of ScienceDirect, then the customer will be able to continue to access the content of the cancelled journal(s) via ScienceDirect for those years for which a full electronic subscription was paid. No additional fee will be charged for this access, which will continue until such time as the customer terminates its ScienceDirect license. 
Why does Elsevier charge at all for Option 2?
There is a cost to maintaining the accessibility of electronic information. A minimal fee has been established to ensure equitable distribution of costs so that Elsevier’s current customers are not subsidizing former customers.
How is this charge calculated?
The fixed portion of the annual fee for Option 2 covers items such as the maintenance of the customer’s profile, records and usage statistics. The full-text article download charge contributes fairly and proportionately to the cost of maintaining the ScienceDirect system.
Doesn’t this mean Elsevier is charging me for something I have already purchased?
No. The information is yours and you have the option to take the files and manage them in your own local system. Some of our customers have expressed a desire to continue access from ScienceDirect to avoid the expense of establishing, managing, and developing their own delivery systems. We will accommodate either option. It’s your choice.
Which ScienceDirect usage report will give me an indication of how much the variable amount of the fee under Option 2 might be in the year following termination?
The indicator “Subscribed” in ScienceDirect customer usage report “3b. Document Usage By Entitlement” gives the number of downloads on which the variable amount will be based.
Will I benefit from ScienceDirect developments if I retain post-termination access?
There is no guarantee that you will be able to access every new feature and function (though this is likely to be the case), but we do guarantee a permanent level of basic access.
Will I have access to ScienceDirect resources for which no charge is normally made?
Yes.
Will I have access to the other types of content I’ve subscribed to on ScienceDirect?
This policy focuses only on journals at this time. Additional policies for other types of content on ScienceDirect are under development. Elsevier would like to hear feedback from customers on this journal policy as we design policies for the various other kinds of electronic content available.
Elsevier has a policy covering the “self-archiving” of authors’ versions of their published journal articles on their personal or institutional websites. To view the full policy, “Author Posting of Final Papers to Public Websites,” visit www.elsevier.com/librarians
Library Connect Pamphlet Number 4: Ways To Use Journal Articles Published by Elsevier, explains this policy in plain English and covers other ways in which journal articles published by Elsevier can be used. A PDF is available at www.elsevier.com/librarians and print copies can be requested from libraryconnect@elsevier.com
