No cost open access publishing expanded for Elsevier journals

Monash researchers can now publish their research open access at no additional cost in an additional 1400 Elsevier journals, under an agreement negotiated by the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL).

All article processing fees have been waived under this expanded ‘read and publish’ agreement which now covers 1600+ titles, according to Monash University Librarian Bob Gerrity, who has spearheaded the initiative with CAUL.

“New papers can now be brought out from behind journal paywalls and available to non-academic audiences at no additional cost,” Mr Gerrity said.

“Research shows that open access boosts citations and increases impact, so It’s a big win for researchers, and the communities who can use their work,” Mr Gerrity added.

Growing options for researchers

The new titles – which are primarily scientific, technical and medical journals – join more than 7000 others from publishers like Springer Nature, Taylor and Francis and Wiley that are covered under these agreements.

This latest announcement follows more than four years of CAUL negotiations with publishers to enable more open-access publishing by either waiving or heavily reducing article processing fees.

Collective negotiations by university libraries 

According to CAUL analyses, Australian university libraries spend approximately $274m per year on journal subscriptions.

“It has been about harnessing that collective power to negotiate for publicly-funded research to be more accessible through open access publishing,” Mr Gerrity explained.

There are currently 21 agreements in place through CAUL, with more than 20,000 articles expected to be published under the current arrangements in 2023.

The volume places Australia 7th in the world behind Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland, Mr Gerrity explained.

“Australia has really leapfrogged to the top of the global chart in recent years, and is leading the way outside Europe.”

Eligible articles

There is a cap on the number of articles that can be published open access in Australia under some of these agreements, however, it is not expected to be reached this year.

Search the full list of eligible journals that waive or reduce APC fees for Monash researchers here.

Learn more about publishing with Elsevier under these agreements, including a step-by-step process when submitting an article.