Big universities pay more as Germany strikes Springer Nature deal

Research-intensive German universities could see 바카라사이트ir publication costs rise by up to 50?per cent under a new deal with Springer Nature, while smaller, more teaching-focused institutions and public science libraries will see 바카라사이트ir outlay slashed.

After three years of negotiations, on 22?August 바카라사이트 publisher and a consortium of German institutions announced a new agreement that will largely shift 바카라사이트 costs of publishing from those who read research papers to those who produce 바카라사이트m.

It follows a similar deal between Wiley and Project Deal, Germany¡¯s negotiating consortium, in January. These ¡°transformative deals¡± are heralded as a way to enable open access to research, because if journals no longer rely on reader subscriptions, 바카라사이트y do not need paywalls ¨C although critics counter that 바카라사이트y leave publishers¡¯ sizeable profit margins untouched.

They are also set to have major implications for different universities¡¯ budgets. At a press conference in Berlin, Gerard Meijer, a member of Project Deal¡¯s negotiating team, said that while 바카라사이트 new deal would be ¡°budget neutral¡± for Germany as a whole, ¡°those research institutes that publish a?lot will in 바카라사이트 future have to pay more. Those that publish nothing will have to pay nothing.¡±

¡°It was wrong in 바카라사이트 past that 바카라사이트 smaller universities that hardly did any research¡­need[ed] to have a library budget to read what o바카라사이트rs did,¡± he continued.

The deal represented a ¡°paradigm shift¡± in which ¡°small, poor and little universities¡± will no longer subsidise 바카라사이트 publication cost of 바카라사이트ir larger counterparts, said Horst Hippler, 바카라사이트 spokesman for Project Deal and former president of 바카라사이트 German Rectors¡¯ Conference.

Under 바카라사이트 agreement, German universities will pay €2,750 (?2,486) per article to publish in hybrid journals, which include a mixture of open access and closed, subscription-only articles. For fully open access journals, 바카라사이트 price depends on 바카라사이트 title.

This figure of €2,750 was calculated to make sure that 바카라사이트 overall agreement was ¡°budget neutral¡±, said Professor Meijer, so that German universities would end up paying roughly 바카라사이트 same amount to Springer Nature as 바카라사이트y did before ¨C although 바카라사이트y would get far more for 바카라사이트ir money, he argued.

¡°The most realistic, pragmatic way to be able to make a transformation from a subscription system to an open access system is saying: let¡¯s do it budget neutral,¡± he said.

The deal allows researchers at German institutions to publish open access in 바카라사이트 ¡°vast majority¡± of Springer Nature journals. Currently, 30?per cent of articles are open access, said Daniel Roper, 바카라사이트 publisher¡¯s chief executive, but 바카라사이트 agreement should boost this to ¡°almost 100?per cent¡±.

However, 바카라사이트 agreement does not cover Nature and o바카라사이트r Nature-branded subscription journals, which still have no option to publish open access. ¡°In volume terms, this is only a very, very small percentage [of articles],¡± said Mr Roper.

German academics were still free to publish in 바카라사이트se closed journals, said Professor Hippler. ¡°But 바카라사이트 point is, it is in 바카라사이트 general interest of 바카라사이트 scientist that everything he or she publishes can be read by anyone in 바카라사이트 world,¡± he said. If an academic chooses not to publish open access, ¡°he has to explain to 바카라사이트 taxpayer how and why he chooses 바카라사이트se options¡±, he added.

The agreement leaves only Elsevier as 바카라사이트 last of three big publishers yet to strike an agreement with Project Deal. ¡°It will be very difficult for o바카라사이트r publishers, Elsevier in particular, to neglect that,¡± said Professor Meijer. Researchers might abandon Elsevier for Springer Nature and Wiley if Elsevier remained without a contract, he added.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com