No, not the University of California. The for-profit journal giant has reached an agreement with California State U

There is a 1.5 per cent price-rise, this year and next, “a significant reduction from previous years.” For authors who want their research to be open access, article processing charges (another name for pay to publish) are waved 2020-2021.

It’s not green-open access but it is another indication of Elsevier’s new strategy of compromising with European and US universities. And it might signal a thaw on Elsevier’s deepest-freeze, at U Cal. Last year the university network and publisher ended negotiations when they could not agree on OA terms (CMM March 4 2019) but in January they agreed to start talking again (CMM January 29). U Cal says the Cal State deal, is “consonant with UC’s goals” and that “it is exciting to see California continuing to lead in the movement to advance open access.”