Durham stands with UK Universities in Elsevier Deal

On 23 March 2022, the outcome of negotiations between UK Universities and the academic publisher Elsevier was announced.

An agreement has been reached and includes both unlimited open access publishing and access to paywalled journal articles for a reduction on current institutional costs. The three-year deal has also secured a cost reduction and price cap on publishing in Elsevier’s fully open access journals.

The deal has been accepted by UK Universities as it meets the core requirements set out by the sector, including the need to significantly reduce existing expenditure and provide full open access publishing to all UK researchers at all UK institutions.

The new deal in brief

The agreement significantly reduces the total sector spend.

It provides a reduction on subscription spend to all UK Universities
It ensures a discount on APCs and a cap on APC price increases for open access publishing in Elsevier’s portfolio of fully open access titles

View within Bill Bryson Library looking up the stairs to four individuals standing and talking. Users sitting at desks and studying in the background

How was the deal agreed?

Group of students sitting in a row working on laptops and writing in notebooks

Elsevier’s seventh proposal was received at the end of December 2021.

The negotiations were led by the UUK/JISC content negotiation strategy group, chaired by Professor Stephen Decent, Provost and deputy vice-chancellor at Manchester Metropolitan University. They were supported with guidance from the UUK/JISC Content Expert Group, and the involvement of academics, librarians and funders from across the sector.

Durham University’s Research Committee and Provost Board were engaged throughout the process in guiding the University’s response to this proposal.

UK Universities were near-unanimous in the recommendation to accept Elsevier’s seventh offer.

Two individuals talking and typing on a laptop

Changes in the way Durham members can publish in Elsevier journals

Authors have the option to publish open access without paying separate Article Processing Charges (APCs) in eligible Elsevier subscription journals.

This open access agreement follows the read and publish model, where authors are not charged individually to publish open access. Instead, the payment is made for publishing as well as providing access to subscription journals, all included into one single contract.

This agreement will cover APCs where the corresponding author on the article has a Durham University affiliation.

Authors can continue to publish in fully open access Elsevier journals

APCs will apply but may benefit from an additional discount.

Where an author is eligible, these may be paid on your behalf by the University via specific open access grants received from research funders.

Existing Elsevier content which Durham University subscribes to or has perpetual access to can be accessed using your CIS username and password.

This agreement joins previous agreements reached with publishers including Springer, Wiley-Blackwell, Sage, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Royal Society Publishing. Further details on these and other agreements can be found at Publisher Deals - Library Research Support: Open Research - Guides at Durham University

"We are pleased with the outcome of negotiations and extend our thanks and congratulations to the UUK/Jisc Content Negotiation Strategy Group. This is a deal which benefits the entire UK HE sector and brings academic publishing in Elsevier journals to a world-wide audience without paywall restrictions."
Liz Waller, Director of Library and Collections, University Librarian

Two individuals working on a computer, with one pointing at the screen

"The outcome of these negotiations demonstrates what can be achieved when the UK HE sector works together, resulting in a deal that supports all UK HEIs in achieving a significant shift towards sustainable open access publishing."
Professor Colin Bain, Durham University Vice-Provost (Research)

Looking to the future

Two students sitting at a high table with a screen next to them

Durham University was committed to standing unified as part of this sector-wide deal and has secured access for all with a significant reduction in sector spend.

The UK Elsevier agreement sets a new standard for negotiations with major suppliers, not just in terms of cost reduction and increased service offering, but in what UK Universities can achieve when working collectively and in partnership.

Durham University is already working to define and plan our next steps.

We want to achieve sustainable options to enable authors to engage closely with scholarly communication solutions that are open and with publishers that are aligned to our academic mission.

The collective knowledge and power of the unified UK Universities sector will drive this innovation, and we welcome the opportunity to work with colleagues in other institutions and organisations nationally and internationally on this in the future.

The sector is engaged with other academic and scholarly publishers, including:

If you have any queries or feedback about the deal with Elsevier, please contact elsevier.negotiations@dulib.libanswers.com

Thanks to Jisc for their material and guidance on communicating about the Elsevier ScienceDirect negotiations, and for their response to this agreement.

Thanks to Cambridge University Libraries for their material, available under a under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

31 March 2022
Images: Durham University