Brad Brazzeal
Agriculture, Forest Resources & Extension Librarian
“that branch of agriculture devoted to the theory, practice,
and scientific management of soil, land, and field-crop
production”
Lewis, R. A. (2002). CRC Dictionary of Agricultural Sciences. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
This study provides two snapshots of electronic availability
of JCR listed agronomy journals at 8 ARL libraries serving
institutions with doctoral programs in agronomy.
First snapshot taken in 2007, and the follow-up was in 2013.
“Information-seekers … expect seamless access to
resources such as full text e-journals, online foreignlanguage materials, e-books, a variety of electronic
publishers’ platforms, and virtual reference desk services.”
(emphasis added)
Connaway, L., Dickey, T. J., & Radford, M. L. (2011). “If it is too inconvenient I'm not
going after it:” Convenience as a critical factor in information-seeking behaviors.
Library & Information Science Research, 33, 179-190.
Why am I
being asked to
pay for this
article?
Does the library
provide access
to SpringerLink?
Why can’t I
access the most
recent issue of
this journal?
 To what extent are research libraries providing online
access to agronomy journals?
 How is this access provided?
 Direct from publishers?
 Through aggregators?
 Other sources or a combination?
 How has this access changed over time?
 Criteria for journal selection
 Inclusion in the agronomy category of the 2005 Journal Citation
Reports (n=47)
 Criteria for library selection
 Member of the Association of Research Libraries
 PhD program in agronomy
 Allowed access to e-journals list without authentication
 Libraries at the following institutions met the criteria
 Cornell University
 Louisiana State University
 Oklahoma State University
 Pennsylvania State University
 Texas Tech University
 University of Florida
 University of Georgia
 University of Wisconsin
 A convenience sample rather than a random sample
 Searched the e-journals list of each library (and catalog
when needed)
 Made screen-shots of the holdings for each journal
 Created an Excel spreadsheet
 Limited analysis to access under current title
 Journals with no e-access at any of the institutions
 Current access vs. embargoed/limited* access
 Aggregator dependent access
 Access to all issues by major publishers
 JSTOR access
 Gold open access
* “Limited” is used to describe access that stopped at a certain point for reasons such as journal cancellations.
The following journals were not available in electronic format at any of the 8
institutions in 2007.
 Advances in Agronomy
 Maydica
 Allelopathy Journal
 Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi-Journal
 American Journal of Potato Research
 Biological Agriculture & Horticulture
 Cereal Research Communications
 International Sugar Journal
 Journal of the American Pomological
Society
of the Japan Society for Bioscience,
Biotechnology and Agrochemistry
 Seed Science & Technology
 Soil and Crop Science Society of
Florida Proceedings
 Tropical Grasslands
The journals in bold were not available in electronic format at any of the 8
institutions in 2013.
 Advances in Agronomy
 Maydica
 Allelopathy Journal
 Nippon Nogeikagaku Kaishi-Journal
 American Journal of Potato Research
 Biological Agriculture & Horticulture
 Cereal Research Communications
 International Sugar Journal
 Journal of the American Pomological
Society
of the Japan Society for Bioscience,
Biotechnology and Agrochemistry
 Seed Science & Technology
 Soil and Crop Science Society of
Florida Proceedings
 Tropical Grasslands
The journals below were only available through aggregators at the institutions
studied in 2013.
 Allelopathy Journal
 Academic Search Complete (2009-present)
 Four institutions had access
 Journal of the American Pomological Society
 ProQuest Research Library (2001-2010)
 Three institutions had access
Institution
Current Access
2007
Current Access
2013
Embargoed/
Limited 2007
Embargoed/
Limited 2013
Institution 1
33
36
0
3
Institution 2
32
40
1
0
Institution 3
31
39
2
1
Institution 4
29
36
3
5
Institution 5
29
38
2
1
Institution 6
21
33
6
2
Institution 7
22
35
4
4
Institution 8
15
32
6
5
26.5
36.1
3
2.6
Average
“Limited” is used to describe access that stopped at a certain point for reasons such as journal cancellations.
Institution
Aggregator
Only Access in
2007
Aggregator
Only Access in
2013
Access
Complemented
by Aggregators
in 2007
Access
Complemented
by Aggregators
2013
Institution 1
0
1
1
2
Institution 2
1
1
2
5
Institution 3
0
1
2
1
Institution 4
0
4
0
0
Institution 5
1
0
2
2
Institution 6
5
3
1
1
Institution 7
1
1
2
1
Institution 8
4
4
5
2
1.5
1.9
1.9
1.8
Average
 Four current publishers accounted for 30 titles
 Elsevier
 Springer
 Acquired two of the journals between 2007 and 2013
 Taylor & Francis
 Acquired three of the journals between 2007 and 2013
 Wiley-Blackwell
 Following charts show access to the complete run of the
journals, regardless of source
 For consistency, even one year of no access was counted as not
having access to all issues
Journal Title and Year of First
Publication Under Title
Institutions with
Access to All in 2007
Institutions with
Access to All in 2013
Advances in Agronomy (1949)
0
0
Agricultural & Forest Meteorology (1984)
4
7
Agricultural Water Management (1976)
4
7
Crop Protection (1982)
4
7
European Journal of Agronomy (1992*)
0
0
Field Crops Research (1978)
4
7
Industrial Crops & Products (1992)
2
6
Postharvest Biology & Technology (1991)
4
7
* Access in ScienceDirect started with volume 5 (1996) at 7 institutions and with volume 8 (1998) at the other.
Journal Title and Year of First Publication
Under Title
Institutions with
Access to All in 2007
Institutions with
Access to All in 2013
Agroforestry Systems (1982)
0
6
Agronomie (1981) (changed to Agronomy
for Sustainable Development in 2005*)
0
1
American Journal of Potato Research (1998*)
0
8
Euphytica (1952)
0
6
European Journal of Plant Pathology (1994)
0
6
Genetic Resources & Crop Evolution (1992)
0
6
Molecular Breeding (1995)
0
6
Plant & Soil (1948)
0
6
Theoretical & Applied Genetics (1968)
0
6
* Titles moved to Springer in 2011 and 2008 respectively.
** In 2007, earliest access to Springer titles was 1996.
Journal Title and Year of First Publication
Under Title
Institutions with
Access to All in 2007
Institutions with
Access to All in 2013
Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica B (1992)
0
0
Biological Agriculture & Horticulture (1982*)
0
0
Communications in Soil Science & Plant
Analysis (1970)
0
2
New Zealand Journal of Crop & Horticultural
Science (1989**)
0
2
Soil Science & Plant Nutrition (1961***)
0
4
* Formerly published by AB Academic Press.
** Moved to Taylor & Francis in 2010
*** Published by Wiley-Blackwell 2005-2010 then moved to Taylor & Francis.
Journal Title and Year of First Publication
Under Title
Institutions with
Access to All in 2007
Institutions with
Access to All in 2013
Grass & Forage Science (1979)
1
5*
Irrigation & Drainage (2001)
5
8
Journal of Agronomy & Crop Science (1986)
2
7**
Journal of Plant Nutrition & Soil Science
(1999)
5
7
Pest Management Science (2000)
5
8
Plant Breeding (1986)
1
3
Plant Pathology (1952)
1
4*
Weed Research (1961)
0
6*
* One institution depended upon Environment Complete for access to issues before 1995 or 1996.
** Access for 1986-1996 only through EBSCO aggregators at the 7 institutions.
 Of all 47 journals, only 2 included in JSTOR
 Weed Science
 Weed Technology
 Current access through BioOne
 All institutions had access to all issues of these journals
 Breeding Science (1999-present)
 Journal of the Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology
and Agrochemistry (1924-2004) (title ceased in 2004)
 Maydica (2002-present)
 Plant Production Science (1998-present)
 Tropical Grasslands (1967-2010) (title ceased in 2010)
 Access to e-journal content increased from 2007 to 2013,
but online access is far from complete
 Aggregators continue to be an important source of content
at some research libraries
 Journals published by agronomy-related societies have
made some movements towards open access
Brad Brazzeal
Agriculture, Forest Resources & Extension Librarian
Mississippi State University Libraries
bbrazzeal@library.misstate.edu