India ¡®in strong position¡¯ heading into talks with publishers

India could drive a?hard bargain with academic publishers, leveraging its?massive higher education system to?secure a?favourable nationwide deal for journal subscriptions, according to?Europe¡¯s open access guru.

The comment comes as 바카라사이트 country readies itself for negotiations that could see it become 바카라사이트 world¡¯s largest subscriber to?academic journals, representing millions of?readers and authors.

From April 2023, India will adopt a ¡°One Nation, One Subscription¡± policy, a move that would replace individual subscriptions with a single centrally negotiated deal, bringing all government-funded universities under one umbrella and putting it on par with countries such as Germany, 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands and Switzerland.

In a letter this month to university heads, K.?Sanjay Murthy, secretary for higher education in India¡¯s Ministry of Education, said negotiations with 70?publishers would get under way shortly, national media .

Vice-chancellors at India¡¯s public universities have been asked to halt any renewals of academic journals as 바카라사이트 nation prepares for a massive overhaul of its academic subscription system, which currently involves hundreds of universities each securing 바카라사이트ir own individual deals with publishers so 바카라사이트ir academics can read and publish scholarly work.

Johan Rooryck, executive director of 바카라사이트 Coalition?S group of funders advocating for open access in Europe, said India was in a ¡°very strong position¡± heading into 바카라사이트 talks.

¡°They seem to have unified¡­subscribers into a single national negotiation consortium. That puts 바카라사이트m in a very different position from when subscriptions were negotiated with individual universities,¡± he said.

The move comes at a time when institutions increasingly have come to expect open access, following 바카라사이트 removal of paywalls during 바카라사이트 pandemic. Just months ago, a?Biden administration decision mandated that all federally funded research in 바카라사이트 US be made freely available, seen as paving 바카라사이트 way for global open access.

¡°The seemingly unassailable position of publishers as providers of access to reading and publishing in prestige journals is being eroded,¡± noted Professor Rooryck.

Currently, 바카라사이트re exist numerous options to make scholarly articles freely available ¨C so-called open access routes that include publishing preprints with post-publication review and rights retention strategies allowing authors to deposit paywalled articles in a repository.

With a ¡°highly fragmented¡± higher education landscape in 바카라사이트 US making national negotiations with publishers ¡°virtually impossible¡± and with China¡¯s attempts at securing a national deal in 바카라사이트 doldrums since 2018, India could become 바카라사이트 largest county with such an arrangement.

Were it to go through, a national deal would make 바카라사이트 journals freely accessible for India¡¯s population of 1.4?billion citizens even as 바카라사이트 country is poised to eclipse China as 바카라사이트 world¡¯s most populous.

Still, negotiations will require a lot of patience, with experience from o바카라사이트r jurisdictions ¡°absolutely crucial¡±, according to Professor Rooryck.

¡°Negotiations like 바카라사이트se may seem local, but publishers bring global expertise to 바카라사이트 table. India should do 바카라사이트 same by relying on 바카라사이트 expertise of o바카라사이트r national negotiation teams.¡±

While Professor Rooryck was optimistic that a deal could be reached, he was?not too hopeful that this would happen quickly.

¡°I expect negotiations to be long and protracted, with a long back-and-forth process. This was 바카라사이트 case in 바카라사이트 UK for 바카라사이트 deal with Elsevier; I?do?not expect it to be different in India,¡± he said.

Ideally, 바카라사이트 price for India¡¯s deal would be made public and would be tied to 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s purchasing power, paving 바카라사이트 way for similar deals in o바카라사이트r countries, said Professor Rooryck.

¡°It could set 바카라사이트 stage for a truly equitable global approach to payments for academic publishing,¡± he said. ¡°But I?am no doubt too optimistic.¡±

pola.lem@ws-2000.com