From: Colin Steele <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, Jul 12, 2017 at 8:32 PM

Times Higher Education (THE)

Berlin universities poised to cancel Elsevier contracts

Some of Germany's most prestigious institutions are increasing
pressure on the publisher to strike a new deal

July 11, 2017

Berlin's biggest universities have warned that they will end their
contracts with Elsevier in a further escalation of a dispute between
German research institutions and the publisher.

In order to increase pressure on Elsevier to agree to a new nationwide
deal, the Free, Humboldt and Technical universities of Berlin, as well
as the Charité Medical University, announced they would not extend
their current contracts beyond the end of 2017.

More than 70 research organisations in Germany are already without
Elsevier contracts, and in 2018 the Berlin universities will join
their ranks.

German universities, research organisations such as the Max Planck
society and the German Research Foundation have clubbed together to
demand a better deal from Elsevier, including blanket open access
rights for published articles and a reduction in costs.

But negotiations broke down at the end of 2016, with a fundamental
issue dividing the two sides: the German side wants to be able to
subtract open access article processing charges from journal
subscription fees, but Elsevier wants to keep these parts of its
business separate. In February, Elsevier restored access to Germany's
research institutions, even though no deal has yet been agreed.

In a statement, Elsevier said it was "working diligently to find a
mutually acceptable solution" to the standoff.

"Elsevier agrees with all of HRK's [Hochschulrektorenkonferenz,
Germany's organisation of university leaders] basic requests for a
national license and open access, and this is reflected in the
numerous constructive proposals that we have submitted to HRK," the
statement continues.

But it accused the HRK of "unilaterally" cancelling a discussion
workshop scheduled for this week in a move it called "disappointing
and concerning".

Previously, Horst Hippler, president of the HRK, warned Elsevier that
"there can be no mistaking how serious we are about this".

"Today, expenditure on the three major publishers Elsevier, Springer
Nature and Wiley is already tying up a major part of scientific
libraries' acquisition budgets – and rising," he said. "This cannot
continue."

---------------------------------------------

Colin Steele
Emeritus Fellow

ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
The Australian National University
Room 3.31, Beryl Rawson Building #13
Acton, ACT, 2601
Australia

P: + 61 2 6125 8983
E: [log in to unmask]