Universités : Springer offre un accès gratuit, pour tenter une sortie de crise

Google English: "Universities: Springer offers free access, to try a way out of crisis

It only took a few days for the pressure on the publisher Springer to tip the trend. On March 29, the Couperin consortium announced that no agreement with the publisher had been found. Access to publications would be cut accordingly. But not very long.

The torch had burned between the universities and publisher Springer: the Couperin consortium was unable to negotiate for the institutions a national agreement, everything collapsed. And the publisher had promised: without agreement, no more access to the publications.

In an open letter, Couperin put the dispute in the public spot: " The negotiations resulted in a stalemate, a consequence of the divergence of economic approach between the publisher and institutions of higher education and research. French academic research has mandated the consortium to obtain a reduction in the price of the subscription contract. 

And to denounce at the same time the drift costs incurred by the publisher, under the guise of developing open access. 

CNRS supports the cause of Open Access 

Shortly before, on March 26, the CNRS also informed the researchers of the cut of subscriptions. As a member of Couperin, the CNRS regretted that the demand for a 15% decrease in the subscription rate was rejected. " Couperin.org considers unacceptable Springer's latest offer that proposed a price increase of 0% in 2018, 0.75% in 2019 and 1% in 2020 for the offer called" big deal "for a bunch of reviews ", Said the CNRS.

" The prices of subscriptions to electronic resources, which have been steadily rising for twenty years, generate significant profits for the major scientific publishers Springer and Elsevier, even though a significant and growing proportion of the articles published in the journals concerned by the subscriptions are freely accessible. The cost of this access for these items is borne by the authors or their institutions and paid to the publishers. Why then charge access via subscription when the publisher has already been funded? "

Rear machine ... 

But now Springer decides to communicate, to finally backtrack. In a message broadcast today, Springer Nature says " disappointed by the decision of Couperin. Over the past 14 months, we have responded positively to all requests from the Couperin Consortium to provide alternative approaches and models designed to meet the needs of its members . "

The publisher would also have taken into account the economic situation, in its latest offer, which proposed " no increase in 2018. It is with regret that this concession like all the others were considered insufficient ".

But the publisher hopes to find a way out that allows him to keep his head up. Wishing to guarantee the scientific community in France access to journals and content, the editor goes back on its sanctions. 

" Therefore, as requested by Couperin, we are considering another proposal and during this time access will remain open, " says Springer Nature. And the negotiations will be able to resume, this time with a major asset for Couperin: to have managed to bend Springer on the issue of access. And the opportunity to take all his time, to win the day."