Springer Nature subscription negotiations: The future of Transitional Agreements

The future of Transitional Agreements

Is this a good deal/did we get everything we wanted?

Whilst the sector did accept the fifth proposal from Springer Nature after extended periods of negotiation, the agreement did not meet all the sector's expectations.

As a result, the sector is re-evaluating the future of Transitional Agreements, also taking into consideration the withdrawal of funding support for these agreements by many funders from 2024/5.

These negotiations have highlighted areas of specific concern that it is likely the sector will seek to approach in a different way in future negotiations.

How can I show my support for better deals?

Discussion both internally at Durham, and as a sector, has reinforced the importance of a united approach to negotiations to ensure the best value is achieved for authors and students at our institutions.

Negotiations in the US and in Europe, as well as the UK, have demonstrated that universities, funders, authors and libraries working together can achieve significant benefits for the scholarly community which both constrain costs, support a transition to more open access publishing through existing and new models of publication, retain access to paywalled content for academic staff and student alike, while also ensuring continued support for sustainable and responsible academic publishing.

We would be happy for any staff or students at Durham to contact us if they would like to discuss the approach of the University or the sector towards a more sustainable, open research environment.

What other deals are currently being negotiated?

JISC works for and with the UK’s academic research and higher education communities to negotiate agreements with publishers that:

1. provide access to scholarly research where access is controlled by publishers;
2. support authors in transitioning to a more fully open publishing landscape;

There are several agreements where negotiations are already in progress, or due to start, over 2023 and 2024. This includes negotiations with publishers including IEEE, Sage, Taylor & Francis and others.

Further information on JISC’s role, and other agreements under negotiation can be found on their website.