How Can I Subscribe Journals with My Budget?

Subscriptions to journals (including e-journals and databases) funded by laboratory or individual faculty research funds are contracted by the library. Please do not order directly with bookstores and publishers or make requests to the departmental administrative staff.

Annual Schedule of Journals Subscription

July:　A Journals Request Survey and Recommend Journals for Students.
January-February:　A notification of scheduled execution balance at the end of the fiscal year. (Only applicable departments)
March:　A notification of approximate cost in next fiscal year and an inquiry about the designated budget.
*We ask the person in charge of books (図書担当) in your department to compile all of the above.

New Request for Subscription

• For new annual subscriptions starting the following year(fiscal year): You can request in a Journals Request Survey term (July).
• For new subscriptions in the middle of a fiscal year:　In the case of printed Japanese Journals, subscriptions may be available in the middle of the fiscal year. Please inquire with the Journals department at the library.

Changing the budget of a journal subscription

• To change your budget from the following year (fiscal year): You can request in a Journals Request Survey term (July).
• To change the budget in the middle of a fiscal year : Please inquire with the journal department at the library.

Cancellation of Subscription

If you are planning to retire or change your job, please make sure to cancel your subscriptions. Journals may not be discontinued immediately, so please proceed as soon as possible.

• Journals and EJ published in Japan : be cancelled from April of the following year
  *If you wish to cancel before December, please contact us.
• Journals and EJ published abroad : be cancelled from January of the following year

Journals not available for purchase

There are no restrictions on content, but please do not purchase journals for print edition that already contracted EJ of same title by the university. Please use the following search page to check it.

• For printed materials: Shimane University Library HP > Shimane University Catalog (OPAC)
• For EJ: Shimane University Library HP > E-Journals/E-Books

Budget

The available budget is limited as follows, because journals are delivered throughout the year (across fiscal years). In principle, budget changes during the fiscal year are not accommodated.

• Basic Education Fund（教育基盤経費）
• Basic Research Fund（研究基盤経費）
• Donations（寄附金）

Subscription Period and Payment Timing

Subscription periods and payment timing for journals vary depending on the type of journal. Payment status can be checked for each budget in MyOPAC as with books, but please also check the financial accounting system(財務会計システム) for journals published and EJ in foreign countries, as there are some exceptions to this process. Please note that there is a time lag until the information is reflected in the financial accounting system(財務会計システム).

published in Japan:

• The schedule starts in April and ends in March.
• Payment is made at the time the journal is accepted by the librarian.
• The final total payment is determined at the end of the fiscal year due to possible changes in publication frequency and additional issues.

published in foreign countries:

• The schedule starts in January and ends in December.
• Executions and transfers will be divided into two or three installments:
  　　at the end of the previous fiscal year (amount for January-March)
  　　and at the beginning of the fiscal year (amount for April-December)
  　　and at the beginning of the fiscal year (amount for a tax of “Reverse Charge Mechanism.”) *only EJ

>>> At the beginning of the fiscal year (amount for April-December), the following budget execution will take place.

1. Around April-May each year, the annual contract amount (12 months) is executed from the subscription budget
2. The amount paid at the end of the previous year for January-March is refunded to the subscription budget on the same day that the annual contract amount is collectively executed. This means that the amount effectively executed at the beginning of the fiscal year is the equivalent of nine months from April to December.

Amounts Paid for E-Journals and Databases

• The cost of journals and EJ published in foreign countries increases almost every year and the actual price may be much higher than the estimated amount due to exchange rate fluctuations.
• You are required to pay 10% of the main price (*amount for a tax of of “Reverse Charge Mechanism.”). This amount is separate from the contract amount and is transferred from the budget you specify as the budget for payment of the subscription amount, usually on a date in April or May of each year.

Receipt of Delivered Journals

• When the journals you have subscribed arrives, they will be placed in the preparation room (behind the service counter) on the first floor of the Main Library.
• When you pick up your subscription, please sign or stamp the form inserted in the journal and hand it to the counter. Please note that, unlike books, we do not notify you by e-mail when the journals are ready for pickup.

How to use e-journals and databases

During the contract period, you can access e-journals and databases via the campus LAN (in some cases from off-campus). The library do not inform you of new data updates, so please search and check by yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions and Notes

Q　How can I purchase a back issue or a specific issue of a journal?

A　If you wish to purchase a  issue by itself, please contact the staff (book[at]lib.shimane-u.ac.jp, [at]→@) to place an order, as it is handled in the same way as a book purchase.

Q　How can I subscribe newspapers?

A　Newspaper subscriptions are arranged by the Accounting Procurement Division (財務部経理・調達課), not the library, so please contact them.

Q　How can I know how much I have left to pay at the end of the fiscal year?

A　Around January-February of each year, we notify you of the amount of subscription fees remaining to be paid by the end of the fiscal year. If you have any questions about the status of the budget, please contact the staff below.

Q　How can I recommend journals for students to the library?

Please see here.

Q　Can I purchase electronic journals that are not subscribed to by the university on a per-article basis (Pay Per View)?

A　If you use Pay Per View with your budget, please contact the Accounting Procurement Division (財務部経理・調達課) .
If you wish to view Elsevier's e-journals, you can use Elsevier Pay-Per-View Prepaid Transaction Service with no usage fees. Please see here.