Open access campaigners toughen stance towards publishers
Advocates argue that universities
should be prepared to ditch subscriptions altogether
Open
access advocates want universities to be prepared to “pull the plug” on their
subscription deals with big publishers, in a sign of an escalation in tactics
to open up more research.
As
the German academy remains locked in a dispute with Dutch publishing giant
Elsevier, those campaigning for open access struck a combative tone at a
conference in Berlin, which also heard frustrations that the move away from
closed journals was not proceeding fast enough.
Gerard
Meijer, director of the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin, who led Dutch
universities in their protracted negotiations with Elsevier in 2015, told
delegates that in order not to be “held hostage” by publishers during talks,
“complete opting-out of the contracts had to be a realistic option. And we are
prepared for that.”
The
aim was to give publishers two options: “either to go along in the
transformation [to open access] or to face cancellation of the contract”, he
told delegates at OA2020 on 22 March.
During
the Dutch talks, editors and referees at Elsevier journals agreed that they
would step down if no deal was struck, Dr Meijer explained. “It made the
publishers nervous,” he said. Researchers were also told not to have any
contact with the publisher, he said. Ultimately, the Dutch consortium and
Elsevier brokered a deal where
30 per cent of articles published in some journals would be made open access,
with no extra cost to authors.
Access At | https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/open-access-campaigners-toughen-stance-towards-publishers
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Knowledge Repository
Khaitan & Co
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