HE consortia call on Clarivate to drop its proposals on ending perpetual access

Consortia representing libraries, finance directors and IT directors across HE have issued a joint letter calling on Clarivate to reverse its decision to discontinue the option for perpetual purchase of academic resources, as recently announced. Perpetual access to scholarly content – in both physical and electronic forms - is a cornerstone of libraries' mission to provide long-term, reliable access to knowledge.

The signatories urge Clarivate to call an immediate halt to its plans while it takes account of the voices of its customers in the UK and worldwide.  These proposals have been introduced at very short notice creating very significant problems for institutions at operational level, including with workflows and staffing.  The new model does not take into account the realities of course design and the need to guarantee availability of content which is central to our courses or modules.  Nor does it account for the very limited book budgets available to UK institutions where we must continue to focus on those titles which are most needed. 

Clarivate statement from UK HE Consortia