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) – 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

Elsevier is a global leader in advanced information and decision support. For over a century, we have been helping advance science and healthcare to advance human progress. We support academic and corporate research communities, doctors, nurses, future healthcare professionals and educators across 170 countries in their vital work. We do this by delivering mission-critical insights and innovative solutions that combine trusted, evidence-based scientific and medical content with cutting-edge AI technologies to help impact makers achieve better outcomes. We champion inclusion and sustainability by embedding these values into our products and culture, working with the communities that we serve. The Elsevier Foundation supports research and health partnerships around the world.

Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.elsevier.com and follow us on social media @ElsevierConnect.