Elsevier deal impasse severs journal access

At least a dozen German research institutions have started the new year without access to Elsevier journals after an acrimonious breakdown in licence negotiations between the country’s research organisations and the publisher, writes David Matthews for Times Higher Education.

But German universities can survive without access because there are so many other ways to get hold of articles, according to one of those leading the effort to forge a new deal, who hopes to see the “collapse” of big publishers’ subscription models in favour of open access to research.

This is the first time that German research organisations, including universities, research networks such as the Max Planck Society and the country’s grant-giving German Research Foundation, have united to negotiate collectively to strike a better deal with Elsevier. In December, talks broke down, with the German side accusing the publisher of unfair pricing and not doing enough to make papers openly accessible.
Full report on the Times Higher Education site