Serials crisis

Okay, imagine you love reading books, and you go to the library to borrow some books. Now, the library has a lot of books, but it can't buy all the books that people want to read. So it has to decide which books to buy and which ones not to buy.

Sometimes, the library can only afford to buy a few copies of a popular book. But many people want to read that book, so they have to wait a long time for their turn to borrow it. And if someone doesn't return the book on time, then even longer.

Now, think of all the books in the library as academic journals. These journals contain articles written by experts in different fields, and they're very important for researchers and students who want to stay up to date with the latest knowledge.

But just like the library, universities and research institutions can't subscribe to all the journals that they need. Some are too expensive, some are not relevant, and some are just not available in their region or language.

So, they have to decide which journals to subscribe to and which not to. And just like with books, some of the most important and popular journals can only be accessed by a few people at a time. So, everyone else has to wait, or they have to pay extra money to get access.

This is what's called the "serials crisis." It's a situation where the cost of academic journals is increasing rapidly, but the budget of libraries and universities is not keeping up. This means that many people don't have access to the knowledge that they need to do their job or research. And some people have to pay a lot of money to get access to the journals they need.

The serials crisis is a big problem for everyone who cares about research and education. So, many people are working hard to find solutions, such as creating open-access journals or negotiating better deals with publishers. But it's still a complicated issue that will take some time to solve.