(14 Nov 2020) More than 2,500 UK university staff have called for an investigation into the “scandal” of excessive pricing of academic e-books.
“Price rises are common, sudden and appear arbitrary” with some digital books increasing by 200%, they say in a letter to Education Committee MPs.
Organiser Johanna Anderson said some e-texts can cost 10 times print copies, with taxpayers and students the losers.
Publishers say the costs are due to the different formats and shared-use.
But Ms Anderson said the situation had become so financially serious for university libraries that it was time for MPs and competition authorities to hold publishers to account.
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