Three more UK universities opt out of new Elsevier deal

Three more UK universities have confirmed they are not taking subscriptions to Elsevier journals, with one Russell Group institution hitting out at the “financially unsustainable” terms of the nationally agreed deal.

In a statement published on 27 January, the University of Sheffield revealed it was signing up to three-year deals with Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, Wiley and Sage but was walking away from an offer by Elsevier, the world’s biggest academic publisher.

“Unfortunately, the Elsevier deal continues to be financially unsustainable and we will not be in a position to subscribe to this deal,” it explained.

Lancaster University and the University of Surrey have also confirmed it will not sign another deal with Elsevier, joining the universities of Essex, Kent and Sussex among those walking away from direct access to the imprint’s 2,800 journals.

Both institutions added they would take up deals with the four other main publishers.

Sheffield and Surrey were among three UK universities to terminate their previous deal with Elsevier at the start of 2025. The third institution – the University of York – has not yet commented publicly on whether it is taking up Elsevier’s revised offer for 2026 onwards, but its library site indicates researchers do not have access to the publisher’s titles.

Last month the sector IT body Jisc, which has been leading talks with the “big five” academic publishers on behalf of the UK sector, announced it had concluded negotiations after nine months of talks. While many universities, including the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford, have confirmed they are taking up all the deals, some institutions have chosen to reject the offer from Elsevier, which publishes Cell and The Lancet, on cost grounds.

According to Sheffield’s statement, its decision to opt out of the Elsevier deal reflects “proposals agreed with the University Executive Board to significantly reduce library spending on resources over a three-year period in response both to financial pressures and ongoing concerns about the sustainability of the commercial scientific publishing model”.

“The main focus for the start of 2026 has been on the largest ‘big deals’ (including Sage, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley) which expired in December 2025,” it continued, adding it "reviews all subscriptions for value for money on an annual basis”.

A Lancaster University spokesperson said: "While agreements with Sage, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis and Wiley for 2026 onwards are in place following Jisc negotiations, its deal with Elsevier has not been renewed."

Confirming its non-renewal of the Elsevier deal last week, the University of Essex said it was “unhappy with the price increases, and Elsevier’s unwillingness to commit to a shift toward a more sustainable model of open access publishing”.

Most UK universities have yet to declare whether they are taking up the Jisc-negotiated Elsevier deal, with the 2023-25 agreement extended for a month until the end of January to allow for further talks.

Universities had been seeking price reductions of between 5 and 15 per cent on the £112 million spent annually with these five publishing houses when their deals expired at the end of 2025.

In a statement Elsevier said it was “delighted to see a high level of participation in our agreement across the sector, while recognising that financial pressures mean a handful of institutions will need to work with us individually to assess their options”.

“Together with Jisc, we continue to advance open access in ways that are sustainable and equitable, while ensuring UK researchers have access to trusted, high-quality content and innovative tools that support discovery and societal impact,” it added.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com