March 23, 2026
Library Affairs increases journal holdings
Research 1 status means more — and SIU Carbondale’s Morris Library is bringing it. Library Affairs recently negotiated new deals with three of the five largest commercial journal publishers that have increased the university’s scholarly journal subscriptions by thousands.
William Walters, professor and dean of Library Affairs, said the negotiations “have greatly expanded our holdings of Elsevier, Wiley, and Springer Nature journals.”
“Last year, we arranged for access to the complete set of Elsevier journals. Early in 2026, we added all the Wiley journals and nearly all the Springer Nature journals. Overall, we have increased our Elsevier, Wiley, and Springer Nature subscriptions from 406 journals to 5,407 journals,” he said.
This increase in journal holdings was achieved without an increase in costs, Walters said. The agreements reflect changes in the scholarly publishing landscape — in particular, the number of research papers in subscription journals that are now freely accessible online and the number that are available as single-article purchases.
Faculty and staff should have no difficulty accessing post-1997 articles from Elsevier, Wiley, or Springer journals through the library website. Contact Andrea Imre, online resources librarian at aimre@siu.edu if you encounter difficulties.
Unfortunately, the library's holdings do not include the Nature Portfolio journals other than Nature itself, Walters said. The library can obtain articles from the Nature Portfolio journals through interlibrary loan and other document delivery mechanisms, usually within 24 hours. Information to request those articles can be found at lib.siu.edu/services/ill.php.
Library Affairs hopes to negotiate similar deals next year with journal publishers Sage and Taylor & Francis. If successful, that will give the SIU community immediate access to nearly all the post-1997 articles of the five largest journal publishers, Walters said.