A consortium of German universities, research institutes and public libraries has reportedly rejected the latest offer from Dutch publishing giant Elsevier for a new country-wide licensing agreement for its research portfolio. Germany's chief negotiator says the offer does not meet the requirements of German researchers.
According to report in Chemistry World, the rejection in early July comes after nearly a year of negotiations during which time rock-hard positions on both sides have scarcely budged, leaving a huge gap yet to be bridged. The German side, represented by a consortium founded in 2014 called Project DEAL, includes the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Fraunhofer–Gesellschaft, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Helmholtz and the Leibniz associations, and the Max Planck Society. Backed by these research giants plus dozens of universities, Project DEAL is demanding a nationwide contract from Elsevier that includes fair pricing, open access in Germany to all papers authored by researchers at German institutions, and permanent full-text access to all electronic journals published by Elsevier.
Project DEAL will also lead negotiations for nationwide licensing agreements with Springer Nature and Wiley.
The negotiations between Germany and Elsevier have now entered the second year. Late last year, more than 70 universities, institutes and public libraries cancelled contracts with Elsevier to 'improve their negotiating power'. Earlier this year, the institutions went several weeks without access to Elsevier's portfolio before the publisher restored access in February 'while good-faith discussions about a nationwide contract carry on'.
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