Read & Publish: no-deal with publisher Wiley for 2025

No agreement has been reached between swissuniversities, representing the participating institutions, and the scientific publisher Wiley. The negotiations have been discontinued in March 2025, as they have not resulted in a mutually acceptable agreement.

Impact on reading:
Reading access has been disabled. Journal content published from 1 January 2025 onwards may no longer be accessible, except if available Open Access.
Perpetual access is available to content published during 2016-2024 , but can be limited to subscriptions taken out in previous years by USI Libraries and can vary from one journal to another.

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.

Impact on publishing:
In this situation, USI authors can no longer publish new articles free of charge in Wiley journals until further notice.
For Gold OA venues, USI follows swissuniversities’ recommendation and will not pay for Gold OA articles from the USI Gold OA Fund for as long as the current no-deal situation persists.

Researchers are encouraged to consider publishing their articles in journals with an existing agreement.

USI Libraries recommend, not to accept paid Open Access publication for articles and follow the Green OA route instead.

Researchers are strongly invited to self-archive the accepted (peer-reviewed) version of the article after the embargo period in the institutional repository SUSI.
For depositing and related information, please contact [email protected].

Further recommendations:
In order to keep the no-deal situation as short as possible and to conclude the best possible agreement with Wiley, swissuniversities recommends the following:

• Do not use central funds for publication fees. USI aligns with this recommendation and will no longer fund Wiley journal articles from its USI Gold OA fund until further notice;
• Consider alternatives to Wiley;
• Make publications available in Open Access as secondary publications (Green OA route);
• Editors should advocate for the Swiss research community;
• Review activities for Wiley should be reconsidered.

The USI Libraries are available to support and orient researchers, as well as for broader information and elucidation. Updated information on the negotiations will be communicated in due time. You can find the latest information also on the swissuniversities dedicated page.

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/publish-open-access  

Q&A

1. Will a no-deal situation jeopardise Swiss research and education?
Experience in Switzerland and internationally shows that a no-deal situation restricts access to literature but does not significantly impede research and teaching. Research articles can be obtained legally through alternative channels mentioned above.

2. How long does a no-deal situation last?
A no-deal situation will last as long as there is no acceptable agreement with Wiley. The negotiation team at swissuniversities is willing to resume negotiations in order to find a solution deemed acceptable for the Swiss HEIs.

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 sticks in principle to this line of procedure.

4. Will the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) pay Open Access fees for Gold Open Access journals of Wiley?
As is recommended in point 3, the SNSF acts in unison with the higher education institutions and will stop paying OA fees for Wiley Gold OA journals. The SNSF recommends avoiding publishing in journals by Wiley and considering alternatives.

5. If an agreement can be found in the coming months, will articles in hybrid journals be made Open Access retrospectively?
This is not clear yet and will be part of the potential future 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 to keep these subscriptions to a minimum so as not to weaken the Swiss negotiation power. The USI Libraries will avoid subscribing to selected journals.

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.