How transformative agreements are enabling the open access transition

A small group of open access publishers recently posted a collective statement on the Frontiers platform making a number of assertions and recommendations with regard to transformative agreements. A close reading of the statement reveals an understandable, if misdirected, level of frustration among the signatory publishers, likely fomented by a lack of first-hand knowledge of the legal, financial and operational aspects of how transformative agreements work. This text is therefore written with the open access publishers in mind, but aims to raise the understanding of all stakeholders in the scholarly communications ecosystem around transformative agreements and the specific context and evidence-based assessments of the institutions and consortia that are negotiating them.