IReL (Irish Research eLibrary), in alignment with the recent Council of the European Union Conclusion on high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy, and equitable scholarly publishing, is reaffirming its dedication to achieving a cost-neutral and fair transition to full open access (OA) for scholarly publications.
Since 2020, IReL has been instrumental in accelerating the adoption of OA publishing in Ireland. Through transformative agreements facilitated by IReL, an impressive 2,813 journal articles were published as OA in 2021, representing an estimated 42% of the annual articles published by corresponding authors affiliated with IReL's member institutions. Preliminary data for 2022 indicates further growth, with an estimated 3,164 articles published as OA.
IReL has been steadily replacing traditional journal subscription licenses with transformative OA agreements. As of May 2023, IReL has signed 22 such agreements that ensure continued journal subscription access while allowing corresponding authors from participating institutions to publish their works as OA without incurring author-facing charges.
IReL has made a commitment to support the objectives outlined in the National Open Research Forum Action Plan for Open Research. Specifically, IReL aims to implement a sustainable and inclusive path towards achieving 100% OA by 2030. This commitment is reflected in IReL's negotiation priorities for future agreements, as outlined below, as well as its dedication to phasing out transformative agreements in favor of more sustainable OA business models.
At the end of 2023, 10 of IReL's existing transformative agreements will expire. IReL is actively engaged in negotiations with these publishers to establish new agreements based on similar terms. The consortium's objectives for these negotiations include: Reducing or controlling the total cost of OA publishing and subscription access per publisher; Ensuring uncapped open access to cover 100% of research articles from IReL's member institutions in all journals published by the respective publishers; Simplifying and improving the processes of OA publishing for authors and institutions; Demonstrating transparency by establishing fair and transparent charges for OA publishing services and making the full terms of agreements publicly available; Seeking commitments to an OA paradigm, with a strategic commitment to a complete OA transition and defined targets; Advocating for equity in global pricing and reducing barriers to publishing in low and middle-income countries; and Safeguarding author rights by eliminating unnecessary requirements for authors to assign copyright or exclusive licenses.
IReL's long-term vision is to phase out transformative agreements gradually as the availability of OA content continues to grow, accompanied by a decline in the volume, usage, and value of subscription content. IReL will actively monitor these trends and evaluate the ongoing value of transformative agreements on a publisher-by-publisher basis.
Historically, prior to 2020, IReL's entire journal budget was allocated to subscriptions. However, since 2021, a growing percentage of this budget (54% in 2022) has been redirected to support OA publishing. As transformative agreements are phased out, IReL will be well-positioned to reallocate these funds effectively to support Irish research and advance the country's open research agenda. IReL's overarching goals are to promote researcher choice, ensure value for money, and foster diversity, equity, and sustainability in scholarly communications. Consequently, IReL wholeheartedly supports and will continue to support OA models and initiatives beyond transformative agreements.
By actively championing transparent, equitable, and open access to scholarly publications, IReL is playing a pivotal role in reshaping the landscape of academic publishing in Ireland and beyond.
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