Have most journals recently stopped providing off-prints to authors? I've recently obtained my PhD in mathematics and started a post-doc this year. I have 5 published papers, across a wide spectrum of journals (in terms of quality, from very good to mediocre). However I never received any off-prints from the journals and it seems that to receive those one has to pay. On the other hand all the professors that I know of have always a lot of off-prints for most of their journal publications. I always wanted to have these neat looking off-prints but it seems that the winds have changed and journals are becoming "cheaper" (behavior-wise) than ever.

This leads me to the following question:


Is this a recent change? Is it considered the norm now to not send off-prints free of charge?
Are these professors perhaps ordering the off-prints through some departmental fund?


Is there anything that can be done about this situation? Can I pressure the journal into sending me off-prints free of charge (e.g would trying to refuse signing the publishing agreement, unless they provide the off-prints for free work?). Have people tried boycotting journals not offering off-prints? This kind of cheap behavior really strikes me as pushing the boundary of what is acceptable. Not only we do most of the work for the journal (refereeing, writing, etc.) but on top of that journals are expensive and do not even offer off-prints anymore.
Off-prints are a remnant from the days when photocopying hadn't been invented and, if you wanted your own copy of a paper, the only reasonable way to get one was to write to the author and ask for an off-print.

Providing off-prints to authors certainly seems to be becoming less common.  Some journals still provide them for free, some only for a fee, and some not at all.  I don't think most people care, and among those that do care, many prefer not to receive the off-prints.  It's been years since I received a request for an off-print, so when I do get them they just end up sitting in piles in my office while I offer them as party favors to anyone who enters the office.  Some decline and probably many of the rest recycle them, since electronic copies are far more convenient.


  Can I pressure the journal into sending me off-prints free of charge (e.g would trying to refuse signing the publishing agreement, unless they provide the off-prints for free work?).


I wouldn't try pressuring them, which could come across as both eccentric and rude.  Instead, you could try begging, by explaining that you are a postdoc with strictly limited funds but would really love off-prints and hope they could provide them at a reduced cost.  I have no idea whether this could work, but the worst that can happen is that they'll say no.


  Have people tried boycotting journals not offering off-prints?


You are welcome to investigate which journals provide off-prints for free and submit your papers there, but I doubt many people will join you in this.