This webinar will introduce a new metric for evaluating the cost effectiveness of Serials: Net Cost Per Paid Use (NCPPU). NCPPU goes beyond the standard Cost Per Use calculation to exclude free content (OA and back catalog), incorporate ILL costs, and value citation and authorship. ALCTS webinar.

1. Intro to managing your serials with
Net Cost per Paid Use
Heather Piwowar
February 26, 2020
@researchremix
heather@ourresearch.org
Hosted by ALCTS, the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services

2. @jasonpriem @researchremix

3. Non-profit company Our Research
(formerly Impactstory)
The people behind

4. Cost per Use

5. Cost per Use
+ improvements
= Net Cost per Paid Use

6. Goal: explain refinements to
Cost Per Use that we think make it
a better measure of subscription
cost-effectiveness

7. subscription cost-effectiveness

8. Net Cost per Paid Use
- Why
- What
- How

9. Net Cost per Paid Use
- Why CPU?
- Why a more advanced version
of CPU?

11. The purpose of the project was to
(1) identify titles for cancellation
(2) and to establish CPU for most titles ordered
individually and those within packages for
use in future contract negotiations
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/
00987913.2018.1558936

12. subscription cost-effectiveness

13. https://www.library.unlv.edu/cd/s
ap2009/SAPprint2009.html

14. Net Cost per Paid Use
- Why CPU?
- Why a more advanced
version of CPU?

15. Why a more advanced
version of CPU?
1. Better capture "Use"

16. https://www.library.unlv.edu/cd/s
ap2009/SAPprint2009.html

17. Do a better job of
quantitatively representing
use than just downloads.

18. Why a more advanced
version of CPU?
1. Better capture "Use"
2. Don't pay for free

19. https://i.imgur.co
m/ie5FW27.png

20. https://i.imgur.co
m/ie5FW27.png

21. https://doi.org/10.1101/795310

23. 50%of article views could be
fulfilled by OA right now...
70%will be in five years.

24. 50%of article views must be
purchased now.
30%must be purchased in five
years.

25. The value of a
journal subscription
is collapsing.

26. That’s why your
subscription prices
keep dropping!

27. 😄😄😄

28. Libraries are paying
for what's free.

29. subscription cost-effectiveness

30. Why a more advanced
version of CPU?
1. Better capture "Use"
2. Don't pay for free

31. Why a more advanced
version of CPU?
1. Better capture "Use"
2. Don't pay for free
3. Include cost of not
subscribing

32. Libraries are committed
to get their patrons what
they need.

33. ILL and document delivery
are not free.
Service cost, staff time.

34. Why a more advanced
version of CPU?
1. Better capture "Use"
2. Don't pay for free
3. Include cost of not
subscribing

35. better estimate of
subscription cost-effectiveness

36. Net Cost per Paid Use
- What should be included?
- What's the calculation for
NCPPU?

37. - Questions?

38. Net Cost per Paid Use
- What should be included?
- What's the calculation for
NCPPU?

39. cost per use
usage
● downloads
cost
● subscriptions

40. subscription cost-effectiveness
usage
● downloads
cost
● subscriptions

41. more accurate subscription
cost-effectiveness
usage
● downloads
● citations
● authorship
alternative
access
● Open access
● Perpetual access backfile
● ResearchGate etc
cost
● subscriptions
● ILL

42. Net Cost Per Paid Use
usage
● downloads
● citations
● authorship
alternative
access
● Open access
● Perpetual access backfile
● ResearchGate etc
cost
● Subscriptions
● ILL

43. Net Cost per Paid Use
- What should be included?
- What's the calculation for
NCPPU?

44. Cost
Use

45. Net Cost
Paid Use

46. Subscription cost - ILL cost
Paid Use

47. Subscription cost - ILL cost
Paid
downloads
citations
authorships

48. Subscription cost - ILL cost
NOT
Open Access
Perpetual Access
ResearchGate etc
downloads
citations
authorships

49. Net Cost
Paid Use

50. Fun to note that NCPPU can be negative!

51. Net Cost per Paid Use
- How can we calculate NCPPU?
- How can we use it in real life?

52. Questions?

53. Net Cost per Paid Use
- How can we calculate NCPPU?
- How can we use it in real life?

54. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

55. Forecast into the future!
It matters!

56. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

57. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

58. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

59. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

60. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

61. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

62. - fraction of downloads available via alternative
access
this one is hard!

63. Why calculating free
access is hard

64. OA

65. OA at the time it is read

66. Backfile

67. Backfile interaction
with reading-age-decay
curve

68. ASN, ResearchGate
estimates

69. ASN, ResearchGate
estimates when not
open, no API

70. Finally: Sum it up,
no double-counting

71. Projected into the
future five years

72. What do we need to calculate it?
- subscription cost
- ILL cost per request
- number of ILL requests
- download count
- citation count
- authorship count
- fraction of downloads available via alternative
access

73. Questions?

74. Net Cost per Paid Use
- How can we calculate NCPPU?
- How can we use it in real life?

75. A data dashboard that helps you
maximize real subscription value

76. You upload
● Your COUNTER data
● custom data, if you have it:
backfile, price lists, etc

77. We bring:
● Unpaywall OA data
● your institution’s citation and
authorship patterns

78. Source of your institution's
citation authorship data:
- GRID/ROR,
Microsoft Academic Graph

79. Source of OA data:
- Unpaywall

80. You’re already
using Unpaywall
if you use:
● Web of Science
● Scopus
● ProQuest Summon
● OCLC WorldCat
● EBSCO EDS
● DS Dimensions
● Lens
● etc..

82. ● Your COUNTER data
● custom data, if you have it:
backfile, price lists, etc
+
● Unpaywall OA data
● your institution’s citation and
authorship patterns

83. Creates
A model projecting costs and
fulfillment for every journal,
for the next five years, using
NCPPU as the subscription
cost-effectiveness metric.

91. Non-profit,
open source,
open data,
open infrastructure

92. Free demo, real data:
journals.unpaywall.org
$1000/yr for custom
dashboard

93. Still early,
would love your feedback.
team@ourresearch.org

94. We'd love it if you want to check out
the demo or subscribe, but you can
also calculate much of this yourself,
and also just think about your
subscription cost-effectiveness
differently.

95. THE MAIN GOAL:
Explain refinements to
Cost Per Use that we think make it
a better measure of subscription
cost-effectiveness

96. Net Cost per Paid Use
- Why
- What
- How

97. Thanks! Questions?
team@ourresearch.org
journals.unpaywall.org
(Check out next week's webinar on calculating OA spend!)
Heather Piwowar
@researchremix