swissuniversities defines relations with the publishers Elsevier, Springer Nature and Wiley for 2020

short abstract: swissuniversities agrees on interim solutions with Wiley and Elsevier for 2020. No contract with Springer Nature.

[machine-translation of German original via deepl.com]

swissuniversities defines relations with publishers Elsevier, Springer Nature and Wiley for 2020

The action plan for the implementation of the national Open Access strategy aims to adapt the contracts with scientific publishers. The existing consortium agreements with Elsevier, Springer Nature and Wiley expire at the end of 2019. swissuniversities has agreed transitional solutions with Wiley and Elsevier for 2020. Springer Nature did not submit a cost-neutral offer. From 1.1.2020 there will therefore be no contract with Springer Nature.

In February 2018, swissuniversities adopted the national Open Access Strategy and the Open Access Action Plan with the vision that by 2024 all publications financed by public funds would be freely accessible. A prerequisite for this are contracts with scientific publishers that permit open publication of articles and monographs. In the ongoing negotiations, swissuniversities is pursuing the Read&Publish model, which includes reading access and Open Access publication costs for universities.

By the end of 2019, swissuniversities had no Read&Publish contracts for 2020 ready for signature. Relations with publishers are defined as follows from 1 January 2020:

Wiley

There is a Memorandum of Understanding with Wiley for the conclusion of a Read&Publish agreement. Negotiations with Wiley will continue in 2020. The institutions participating in the Wiley license today have received an offer to extend the existing license agreement by one year on unchanged terms. With the extension, both parties emphasize the continuation of the constructive dialogue towards a complete transition to Open Access for all Swiss universities. Both parties are confident that they will achieve their goals.

Elsevier

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with Elsevier for the conclusion of a Read&Publish agreement, which will be valid from January 2020. swissuniversities supports the agreed framework conditions. The contract will be fully negotiated between the parties by the end of March 2020. The negotiations started with Elsevier at the beginning of 2019 are proceeding constructively and productively.

Springer Nature

The existing license agreement with Springer Nature was extended by one year in 2018. Despite mutual efforts, it was not possible in 2019 to reach agreement on a Read&Publish agreement that meets the requirements of the swissuniversities mandate. Springer Nature was unable to agree to a further cost-neutral extension of the contract. The parties left the negotiating table without a result for the time being. As of January 2020, the Swiss universities have no agreement with Springer Nature (non-contractual status) until further notice.

Conclusion and further information

The outcome of the negotiations with the major scientific publishers shows the complexity of the transformation process towards Open Access. For swissuniversities, it proves that the Read&Publish principle is a viable path for all parties involved. The academic community has the tools to read articles from publishers who do not have a licensing agreement. It will actively support researchers to ensure that they continue to have access to the articles without any disadvantages. Experience abroad has shown that the successful publication of research results is guaranteed even in a contractless state.

swissuniversities and the participating institutions provide information and advice on Open Access. Further information on negotiations with publishers, access to publications and answers to frequently asked questions can be found on the website.