Academic publisher Emerald Publishing has partnered with the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) in a transformative three-year open access agreement. This collaboration, which began in 2022, aims to enable researchers at participating institutions in South Africa to publish fully open access, reducing barriers to participation and access.
The agreement between Emerald and SANLiC has been a resounding success, with a 100% utilization rate of Article Processing Charge (APC) vouchers in the first year. Under the Read and Publish agreement, SANLiC's member libraries have free access to Emerald's full content collection and can use vouchers to publish in Emerald's hybrid and fully open access journals. The agreement covers 27 organizations in South Africa, with more than 900 registered users.
To fully benefit from the principles that govern open access, university libraries in Africa have actively promoted the open access movement through the establishment and maintenance of institutional repositories (IRs) and the cataloging of journals that facilitate and promote open access publications by university library services.
Emerald's open access agreement with SANLiC is a significant step towards advancing research and education in South Africa, providing researchers with greater visibility and impact for their work, and fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing within the academic community.
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