Elsevier UK deal agreed
Successful deal brings open access publishing and cost constraints after extended negotiations.
The seventh proposal from the publishing giant Elsevier meets the key requirements set out at the start of the negotiations and has been formally accepted by the UK HE sector.
The read-and-publish deal provides full and immediate open access to research outputs published in the vast majority of Elsevier journals. This means that articles published in Elsevier journals will be compliant with the new UKRI policy on research outputs which launches on 1 April 2022. The deal also constrains the costs for reading and publishing articles.
this is a significant step in making UK research openly available
Subscription costs will reduce by around 15% to read the Elsevier journal titles that we currently subscribe to. This fee will now also cover the cost to publish in all hybrid titles published by Elsevier, which was previously an extra charge. There will still be an article processing charge to publish in Elsevier’s wholly open access (also known as gold) titles, but a 15% reduction will be applied to that charge.
It is a 3-year deal, and price increases are capped at 1% for year 2, and 2% for year 3, giving budget certainty over the life of the deal.
Masud Khokhar, University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection, said: “This is a positive result for the sector, and shows what we can achieve by collective effort and determination. It was a long haul – the preparatory work and the negotiations spanned an 18-month period. However, this is a significant step in making UK research openly available.”
The University of Leeds Libraries will invest part of the savings to support open access platforms.
The sector and Jisc will continue to work together to monitor the efficacy of this deal and to make sure that the costs of making UK research outputs openly available remain transparent and affordable.
Read more about the Elsevier negotiations and Jisc’s response to the new agreement.
Find out more about read and publish deals at the University of Leeds.
