Elsevier’s make-nicer strategy stalls

Under new(ish) CEO Kumsal Bayazit the for-profit journal-giant has modified its open access strategy, from adamant opposition to accommodation (CMM November 13 2019). The company has reached agreements across Europe and North America, with one major failure – the University of California network.

Make that two. Now MIT-Elsevier negotiations for a new journal contract are over. MIT appears prepared to accept something along the lines of gold (pay to publish open access). It’s base-line terms for publisher contracts, specifies paying “a fair and sustainable price to publishers for value-added services, based on transparent and cost-based pricing models.”

But MIT also requires no waiver of open access to publish in a journal and content being released to institutional repositories on publication. “Control of scholarship and its dissemination should reside with scholars and their institutions, and aims to ensure that scholarly research outputs are openly and equitably available to the broadest possible audience,” MIT states.

As for resuming negotiations, “We hope to be able to resume productive negotiations if and when Elsevier is able to provide a contract that reflects our community’s needs and values and advances MIT’s mission,” MIT Library Director Chris Bourg says.

Which might happen, “we see MIT’s framework as a strong roadmap for progress of science and the public good. We regret that MIT has decided to end our negotiations at this stage but hope to find the path forward together in the interests of the research communities we both serve,” Elsevier responds.

Or might not, at least for a while. Negotiations on terms for a new subscription-publishing contract between Elsevier and Uni Cal failed over a year ago (CMM March 4 2019) and despite both sides talking about talking more it hasn’t happened.