The Biggest Challenge for all Librarians, Colleges and Institutes when subscribing Journals is to find best and most cost effective Journals, which can meet their requirement and also not heavy on their budget and they get best deals too.
There are some standard practices which are listed below which if followed judiciously will provide not only happy moments for Librarians and journals selection committee but also significantly reduce post subscription follow-up, quality issues and authenticity of publication.
The Publishers Catalog
Always subscribe your journals by referring the original publishers catalog as publishers catalog will give you complete, authentic and reliable information. Some times publishers drop/ add Journals, may merge volume / Issues or Change Journals name all this information is only available on latest Publishers Catalog.
The Publishers Website
Publishers website is the most authentic way to find the current status of Journals. If you have decided to procure a Journal directly from publisher or your supplier agency , always check the current status of papers published / Vol & Issue , Editorial Board status online , as its now mandatory to have all these details available before print publication .
Journals National / International ?
There is lot of confusion about which Journals are national and which can be / should be considered International.
It should be noted that all Journals who's ISSN no's are issued in/ from India are originally Indian Journals, as their place of Publication, Publishers are Indian.
Also all Print International Journals can only be called international when they are imported by through customs route i.e. only if they are legally imported via shipments after going through customs .
Checking ISSN
The best way to check the journals ISSN is to go on www.portal.issn.org and check the country of origin and publisher.
Checking Publishers Credentials
Always ask for Publishers details like PAN, GST, Import-Export Code , Registration with government agencies like ( DRDO ) , Check GST returns filing online, List of Clients and current company status.
Confirming with Publisher
It is always beneficial for libraries to directly be in touch with publishers for getting technical support and also about printing/ dispatch and delivery of missing issues.
Some times libraries get only promoted selective Journals of their choices and may not receive complete list of Journals or information, the best way is to ask the agencies to reveal the college name to publishers ,so that publishers provide assistance to libraries.
Publisher Authority Letter
If your library is subscribing Journals through any agency please ensure that the agency is authorized by publisher to sell and represent them in your college, as in case of any dispute publisher will not entertain request of Institutes/ Colleges who buy from unauthorized agencies.
For this the best way is to ask for authority letter from the agency from the publisher on their letter-head.
We are hopeful that if decision makers follow the best practices, then they will get the best Journals but also most value for the money they have invested.
If you have any queries or suggestion , please do share with us.
We are thrilled to recieve a fabulous responce to our previous mailer regarding " Awareness about Journals Subscription Standards ".
We are now encouraged to share a much detailed insight about how Institutions/ Colleges/ Universities can Safeguard themself from the nefarious and fake players in market, providing Journals and Subscriptions.
( All the examples shared in the mailer are true and has been fully researched by our expert team members.)
STEPS FOR CHECKING JOURNALS AUTHENTICITY
Always ask for ISSN NO. of Journal, when subscribing the Print/ Online issue, this will help you in establishing the Journal Publisher, Year of Publication start, Location of Publisher etc.
2. Go to the website of ISSN ( For Indian Journals, even for those having International titles, but published from India)
Submit ISSN No. and Click Search, if no result is found i.e Journal has not been issued an ISSN from India.
3. For International Journals Search following URL ( For all those Journals who's Publisher id not from India, or the Journals is Published out of India )
https://portal.issn.org/
4. Match the ISSN No. with the name of Journal and Publisher as mentioned by the Agent/ Supplier
5. Search Journal's Name / ISSN No. on Google search Engine and see if their is any Publisher website exist, as some fake players are also selling Journals through websites of Publishers which are defunct or Closed .
6. Journals are created by fake players and Supplied as Publishers Journals by either Slightly modifying their names and also giving wrong ISSN No., always get the Publisher information for each Journal and take the authorized supplier / Agent letter from the suppliers , this letter is provided by Publishers to their Suppliers.
7. Always mention name of Publisher in your Purchase order against each Journal and also verify that with Publisher that the Agent/ Supplier has passed the Orders to Publisher, as fake players are printing fake Journal Copies and supplying them to Institute/ Universities , thus making Educational bodies liable.
8. Some fake players are supplying international print Journals published from out of India , without importing them though Customs Channel, as these players print Journals using Online Pdf, which is against rules, as all International Journals Published out of India has to be imported through Customs only else Customs/ GST / The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology authorities can make your institution also Liable for penal action. ( Get Proof of Import/ Import Export License of suppliers)
We are thankful to all our sincere Agents / Suppliers across India, Our Effort is to weed Out all the fake and unscrupulous players from market.
If you have not checked these online then you many be buying rejected papers , having no value or worth and still paying them. Also check that some open access Journals are been sold as print, which you need not buy as your students can eaisly download these papers free of cost from publishers website.
