Kluwer's policy is always to set and announce journal subscription prices early. This is in response to the wishes of the library community for early and firm prices for journal subscriptions. This means librarians will not be confronted with price increases after having submitted their orders.

Claims for missing issues made within three months of the mailing date of the following issue will be honored without charge. For subscribers in countries where delivery can sometimes take longer, the limit of three months is extended.

Journals

Kluwer has always been an active player in developing and implementing standards, and we continue to pursue standardization initiatives that improve communication with and for our trade partners. Currently we are active in the development and implementation of computer-based standards such as SGML and EDI.

Kluwer is a member of the International Committee on Electronic Data Interchange for Serials (ICEDIS). We were among the first publishers to implement the committee's EDI standards for the exchange of data, price information, changes of address, orders, cancellations, claims, and claim responses between subscription agents and publishers.

ICEDIS also developed the Serials Issue and Contribution Identifier (SICI) bar-code, which is a simpler way for libraries to check-in issues. We were the first publisher to print SICI bar codes on the covers of all our journals.

Kluwer is an active participant in Editeur, the Pan-European Book Sector EDI Group. This group coordinates the development, promotion and implementation of EDI in the European book industry. We were among the first publishers to exchange EDI messages with booksellers.

Kluwer is committed to the development and implementation of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), for the structuring of scientific articles. Not only do we use SGML, we have played an important role in promoting its use in Europe, through our participation in the International SGML User's Group, and European Workgroup on SGML.