Nature Publishing Group (NPG) has accused the University of California of bullying after the institution¡¯s library threatened to boycott the publisher over its charges.

California Digital Library (CDL) wrote to UC staff on 4 June, claiming that the publisher was planning a 400 per cent increase in the price the university pays for digital licences to its journals.

The letter says that the proposed increase is of ¡°unprecedented magnitude¡± and would cost the university more than $1 million (?685,000) a year.

The letter adds that NPG, unlike other publishers, had been ¡°singularly unresponsive¡± to the library¡¯s ¡°economic distress¡±.

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¡°[It] has employed a ¡®divide and conquer¡¯ strategy that directs major price increases to various institutions in different years,¡± it says.

The library states that ¡°capitulating¡± to the publisher is not an option, and adds that it is prepared to cancel all NPG subscriptions and call on UC¡¯s academic staff to boycott it.

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But in a statement, NPG says it is shocked and disappointed that the library has ¡°resorted to using misinformation in inappropriate contexts to create publicity with the threat of a boycott, as part of a negotiating tactic, when NPG¡¯s intention has always been to reach a fair agreement¡±.

It adds that annual increases to the cost of its licences are capped at 7 per cent.

¡°The complication with CDL is that [it has] been on a very large, unsustainable discount for many years, to the point where other subscribers, both in the US and around the world, are subsidising [it],¡± the statement says.

¡°The origins of this discount can be found in the lack of clear definitions around consortia and ¡®single institute, multisite¡¯ subscribers, as well as previous accommodations of CDL¡¯s budget limitations.¡±

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It says the library currently enjoys a discount of 88 per cent.

¡°After several attempts, we are now trying to bring [it] close to a 50 per cent discount,¡± it adds.

¡°We sincerely hope that no boycotts will occur, not least because it is detrimental to the advance of science, but we will not be bullied into continuing CDL¡¯s subsidy.¡±

paul.jump@tsleducation.com

The letter:

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The NPG statement: