Springer Science+Business Media and Jisc have agreed on a new arrangement which takes into account UK scientists’ need to comply with multiple funders’ open access policies and to have access to the vast library of scientific articles published by Springer, while containing the combined costs of article processing charges and subscriptions.
The proposed agreement will cap the amount paid by UK higher education institutions to subscribe and maintain full access to Springer’s high quality subscription journals and to make their researchers’ articles open access in those journals, the latter being in compliance with the requirements of HEFCE’s Research Excellence Framework, RCUK’s open access policy and other major funders such as the Charity Open Access Fund . It is intended that the agreement will significantly reduce the cost and administration barriers to hybrid open access publishing for UK academic institutions, while supporting the transition to open access in a transparent and sustainable way.
Jisc and Springer first entered into negotiations in response to changes to the UK’s open access requirements in early 2014. Jisc supports education and research through digital services, and approached Springer with a clear mandate and objectives to contain the costs to UK institutions. Springer is committed to recognizing and accommodating the needs of libraries, funders, universities and researchers.
Extensive discussions have been necessary to understand the needs and requirements of all stakeholders and to prepare a framework that could form the basis for a sustainable model of publishing in, and giving access to, Springer’s subscription journals. As a transformative model, the two organizations will engage in ongoing co-operation and assessment so that they can ensure the arrangement continues to meet UK higher education institutions’ compliance needs as open access requirements evolve. Both parties have worked together in a constructive way, echoing the process and intention of the Finch Group.
“Springer is proud to work so closely with Jisc on this new direction in science publishing”, says Roné Robbetze, VP Sales Northwestern Europe and Africa. ”The UK has taken a major step in further developing open access and we are happy to be the first to have such a far-reaching arrangement here”.
“Jisc sees the development of these models as essential in order to contain the total cost of ownership of scholarly communication” says Lorraine Estelle, executive director of digital resources and divisional CEO of Jisc Collections. “Springer has shown a deep understanding of the issue and contributed proactively in finding a model that addresses the needs of UK higher education institutions as they lead in the transition to open access.”
