Smaller independent publishers, libraries, and consortia can now more easily enter into Open Access agreements thanks to a set of new tools published by cOAlition S and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP). Commenting on the publication of the toolkit, Colleen Campbell, coordinator of the OA2020 Initiative, said: “In order to foster a diverse, open scholarly publishing landscape, libraries and consortia need to broaden the scope of their negotiation strategies to embrace smaller independent publishers, but tailoring each agreement can take considerable time and resources. Shared standards and greater automation are required, and these tools give us a sound foundation from which to build.”
The toolkit addresses this need for automation with the following materials:
- • A report (download or view), containing shared principles for developing an OA agreement; a data template; six example licences ready to be used and adapted as necessary; and a list of the many librarians and publishers who have contributed to the development of the toolkit.
- A detailed workflow (download or view) providing an overview of the entire process, from contract negotiation to achieving compliance with funder policies and reporting to libraries.
The toolkit was developed by Information Power, working together with librarians, publishers and library consortia in the framework of the third phase of the Society Publishers Accelerating Open Access (SPA OPS 3.0) project, commissioned by cOAlition S and the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP).
