In 2024, UK universities collectively spent ?112 million on open access publishing with the “Big 5” publishers: Elsevier, Sage, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley.
The University of 天发娱乐棋牌_天发娱乐APP-官网|下载 Library is committed to maximising the impact of your research. Through our no-additional-cost publishing agreements with over 20 publishers, including the Big 5, we have managed to constrain costs and increase our open access output to ~90% of journal articles. This ensures your research findings are freely accessible worldwide, breaking down barriers and fostering collaboration and impact with researchers, practitioners, and policymakers globally.
However, the historic subscription costs and per-article price modelling are placing an increasing burden on squeezed institutional budgets nationwide. The current business model faces increasing pressure from rapid publication growth and unsustainable price increases imposed by major commercial publishers, including the Big 5. With the current national agreements expiring at the end of 2025, a new approach is essential to reduce costs and ensure long-term sustainability.
Next Generation Open Access Strategy
Jisc is spearheading the “Next Generation Open Access Strategy” on a national level, working closely with institutions to secure more equitable, transparent and sustainable publishing models for 2026.
The key objectives are to:
- Reduce costs for institutions
- Move beyond volume-driven models to fairer, sustainable approaches and bridge access gaps for crucial sectors like the NHS, government, and industry
- Support national priorities by enhancing the economic and societal impact of research and strengthening teaching, learning, and research collaborations
Stay informed: negotiation timeline
- January – June 2025: national negotiations led by Jisc with the Big 5 publishers.
- July – October 2025: sector-wide consultation and acceptance/rejection of the publisher proposals
- November – December 2025: launch of the new agreements or alternative strategies
Future publishing agreements will be strategically aligned with Research Excellence Framework (REF) requirements and the open access policies of major research funders.
We are working closely with Jisc by sharing feedback, invitations to strategic groups and taking part in consultations. We will keep you up to date via our open access pages as the negotiations and consultations progress and welcome comments to eprints@soton.ac.uk