The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) has announced a major milestone in open access publishing for Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The 100,000th open access article was recently published through a CAUL consortium agreement. Since establishing its first agreements with two small publishers in 2020, CAUL has expanded to include 26 publishers, ranging from society publishers to large academic platforms.
The agreements have saved more than $500 million in article processing charges that would otherwise have been paid directly by universities and researchers. These arrangements leverage library financial resources and expertise to contain costs while enabling researchers to publish open access.
CAUL CEO Jane Angel remarked that publishing 100,000 articles open access benefits not only universities but society at large by making research freely available beyond library users.
Through its 2026–2028 strategic plan, CAUL will continue to expand its open access programs to transform knowledge ecosystems for equity and access. The organization extended thanks to members, publishers, and colleagues across the sector as it marked this achievement.
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