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Abstract

Updated from a briefing session given at the 27^th UKSG Conference, Manchester, March 2004

This paper provides an overview of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) journal activities, lead by the JISC Journals Working Group (JWG) from 2003 to 2004. These activities include the launch of the NESLi2 scheme for central journal negotiations on behalf of the UK academic community. NESLi2 builds on the best practice established in previous schemes, but incorporates new features including defined negotiating criteria and a transparent process for reporting to university libraries. Other areas of JISC journal activity include developing cost-effective content acquisition, which takes account of the dynamic nature of the journals marketplace. To this end the JISC JWG has provided pump-priming funding for open access publishing. The group has also commissioned a report on the use of electronic journals across the UK academic community and an evaluation of the benefits and disadvantages of the established and emerging business models used by scholarly publishers.