Swiss universities and research libraries have mandated swissuniversities to negotiate «read and publish» agreements with the major publishers Elsevier, Wiley and Springer Nature (so-called «big deals»). The negotiations for 2020 concluded on 13 December 2019 and the negotiations for 2021 will continue in 2020.
The outcome of the negotiations for 2020 was announced in swissuniversities’ press release: «At the end of 2019, swissuniversities had no read and publish contracts for 2020 that were ready for signature». Here you will find information on the current relationships with the three major publishers and the latest news on the ongoing national negotiations led by swissuniversities. Additional background information is provided at the bottom of this page. All information is updated regularly.
The current subscription contract with Elsevier was extended to March 2020. Elsevier signed a «memorandum of understanding» for a «read and publish» agreement that will be valid from January 2020. The «read and publish» agreement is to be negotiated by the end of March 2020. The agreement will enable researchers to access Elsevier publications and publish Open Access without paying additional article processing charges (APCs).
13 January 2020: As of 1 January 2020, Swiss researchers can publish Open Access in most Elsevier journals without paying additional APCs. For more information visit our page on Open Access Discounts. Elsevier also provides more information on how to publish Open Access .
The negotiations between Springer Nature and swissuniversities concluded without any agreement. The talks will continue in 2020. It is likely that researchers in Switzerland will eventually lose direct access to Springer Nature articles published from 2020 onwards. Researchers will certainly keep post-cancellation access to all licensed Springer Nature articles published before 2020 though.
07 April 2020: Since January 2020, Swiss universities have had no agreement with Springer Nature (non-contractual status) until further notice. This affects publications from Springer, Adis, Palgrave, Nature Academic and Nature Branded, including Scientific American. However, the publisher is keeping access open. Negotiations have since resumed. Since March 2020, there has been a memorandum of understanding for the conclusion of a Read and Publish contract.
( source: swissuniversities )
17 January 2020: Springer Nature discloses to the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries that the «official deadline for the grace period» is end of March 2020. The information remains vague: Possibly, from April 2020 onwards researchers in Switzerland may lose direct access to newly published 2020 Springer Nature journal content. Certainly, they will keep post-cancellation access to all licensed Springer Nature articles published before 2020.
19 December 2019: Springer Nature announces they will apply a grace period and grant access to newly published journal content in 2020 until further notice.
The current subscription contract with Wiley was extended to December 2020. Meanwhile, researchers will keep access to all their journals. The extension comes with no cost increase but does not include any Open Access options. Wiley signed a «memorandum of understanding» for a «read and publish» agreement for 2021.
What is happening elsewhere?
The Swiss negotiations are part of a wider movement. All over the world, there is growing pressure from various stakeholders to transform scientific communication to OA. After a phase of resistance, most publishers are now willing to transform their business models from subscription to OA. Consequentially, many countries have successfully negotiated OA agreements, so called «transformative agreements», with major publishers.
