Taking a Stand for Open Access, University of California Terminates Elsevier Deal

"In a major announcement, the University of California this week announced that after months of negotiations, it has terminated its subscription to Elsevier journals. In a release, U.C. officials said Elsevier was unwilling to meet U.C.’s key goal in the negotiations: "securing universal open access to U.C. research while containing the rapidly escalating costs associated with for-profit journals." 

As the world's largest scientific publisher, Elsevier is no stranger to tough negotiations, often clashing with university librarians, administrators, and faculty over the high cost of access to scholarly journals. But this time, it feels different: in terminating its subscription, U.C. officials aren't just haggling over price, but are staking out a bold position in support of open access....

U.C.'s decision to walk away from Elsevier is the latest sign that after years of slow progress, researchers are determined to accelerate the flip from subscription to open access. Around the globe, a growing number of libraries and research institutions have been pushing back against expensive subscription deals.And in Europe, a coalition of major funders of scholarly research have backed an ambitious, controversial initiative, called Plan S, that aims to make open access a reality by 2020...."