No-deal with publishers Elsevier and Taylor&Francis for 2024

No agreement has been reached with the two publishers Elsevier and Taylor&Francis that meets the requirements of swissuniversities on Read&Publish contracts. Negotiations are continuing, but without a definite timeframe for the conclusion of the agreements.

Effects on publication options

In this situation, USI authors can no longer publish new articles free of charge in Gold or Hybrid Open Access (OA) until further notice. USI Libraries recommend, starting January 1st, not to accept paid Open Access publication for articles. As an alternative, researchers are invited to deposit articles in Green Open Access in the institutional repository SUSI. For depositing and related information, please contact [email protected].

Effects on access to articles

Access to all new non-Open Access articles published in 2024 by the two publishers is in principle precluded on their platforms. Articles from previous years will still be accessible under PCA (Post-Cancellation Access), i.e. limited to subscriptions taken out in previous years by USI Libraries.
Should it be impossible to access an article of interest, researchers may explore the alternative routes indicated in the factsheet "How to get the article?" produced by the Libraries on the basis of swissuniversities' recommendations.

Q&A

1. Will a contractless situation jeopardise Swiss research and education?
Experience in Switzerland and internationally shows that a contractless situation restricts access to literature but does not significantly impede research and teaching. Research articles can be obtained legally through the alternative channels mentioned before.

2. How long does a contractless situation last?
A contractless situation will last as long as there is no acceptable agreement with Elsevier and Taylor&Francis. The negotiation team will continue the negotiations to find a solution.

3. Can institutions or researchers continue to pay APCs for individual articles?
Swissuniversities recommends that institutions do not pay for hybrid and Gold OA articles from central funds. USI will stick in principle to this line of procedure, in order not to weaken the Swiss position in the negotiations.

4. Will the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) pay Open Access fees for Gold Open Access journals of Elsevier?
As is recommended in point 3, the SNSF acts in unison and will stop paying OA fees for Elsevier and Taylor&Francis Gold OA journals.

5. If an agreement can be found later in 2024, will articles in hybrid journals be made Open Access retrospectively?
This is yet unclear, and will be part of the negotiations.

6. Can USI subscribe to individual journal titles?
In principle, institutions can subscribe to selected journals. However, as in non-contractual situations with other publishers, it is important that these subscriptions are kept to a minimum in order not to weaken the Swiss negotiation power. The USI Libraries will avoid subscribing to selected journals if not strictly indispensable.

7. How can authors comply with the Open Access requirement of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and other funders? Are they temporarily suspended?
If publishing in hybrid journals, authors can still comply with the SNSF’s OA requirements by applying the “Rights Retention Strategy” and depositing their final manuscripts in a repository (Green OA). In any case, the SNSF monitors compliance to its OA regulations sensibly and will account for the current no-deal situation.

The USI Libraries are available to support and orient researchers, as well as for broader information and elucidation. Updated information and possible measures to mitigate problems with accessing articles on the two platforms will be communicated in early January.

For more information:
Open Access
[email protected]
Campus Lugano: https://it.bul.sbu.usi.ch/information/open_access
Campus Mendrisio: https://biblio.arc.usi.ch/en/pubblicare_e_depositare/sostegno_finanziario