Elsevier and Council of Australian University Librarians sign agreement to support transition to open access publishing alongside continued research access for Australia and New Zealand researchers

Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics, today announced that it has signed an agreement with the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL(opens in new tab/window)) – the negotiating body representing universities in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) – to provide immediate open access to ANZ research for the world and continued access to global research for ANZ readers.

The three-year agreement addresses CAUL’s goals for a rapid and sustainable transition to open access publishing and represents the largest transformative agreement for both countries.

Under the agreement, which takes effect from January 2023, ANZ researchers at CAUL-affiliated academic institutions that participate in the agreement can make their research articles immediately available via open access publishing in Elsevier’s journals

Robert Gerrity, Board Director of CAUL and University Librarian at Monash University, said: “We see this agreement with Elsevier as a vital step in providing greater value to researchers in Australia and New Zealand through the inclusion of open access publishing. While this agreement provides opportunities for authors to share research more widely, we will continue to work with Elsevier to evolve this agreement to meet the needs of individual universities and their different research profiles. This agreement is an important first step in that journey.”

Gemma Hersh, SVP of Global Academic & Government Sales, Elsevier, said: “We are delighted to continue building on our long-standing relationship with CAUL with an agreement that supports the priorities of the ANZ research community to transition to open access. We are grateful to CAUL for their partnership and pragmatism in reaching what is now the largest transformative agreement across Australasia and we look forward to continuing our partnership with ANZ institutions.”

As one of the fastest-growing open access publishers in the world, nearly all of Elsevier's 2,800 journals enable open access publishing, including 600 fully open access journals. We now support over 2,000 institutions globally to publish open access through transformative agreements. In 2021 Elsevier published 119,000 gold or pay-to-publish open access articles, an increase of more than 46% over 2020.

About Elsevier

As a global leader in scientific information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making with innovative solutions based on trusted, evidence-based content and advanced AI-enabled digital technologies.

We have supported the work of our research and healthcare communities for more than 140 years. Our 9,500 employees around the world, including 2,500 technologists, are dedicated to supporting researchers, librarians, academic leaders, funders, governments, R&D-intensive companies, doctors, nurses, future healthcare professionals and educators in their critical work. Our 2,900 scientific journals and iconic reference books include the foremost titles in their fields, including Cell Press, The Lancet and Gray’s Anatomy.

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