UK publishing deals with ‘big five’ hailed as ‘key milestone’

The “big five” academic publishers have all reached agreements with UK universities, with a trial that will remove fees on a per article basis from certain journals being hailed as a “global first”.

Sector IT body Jisc, which has been leading talks with Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Sage on behalf of the UK sector, said on 22 December that negotiations with all five have now successfully concluded, having previously announced that it had reached “sector-agreed thresholds for acceptance” with all except Sage.

The new agreements mark a “key milestone” for UK research and position institutions “at the forefront of efforts to reform scholarly publishing”, said Jisc.

Intensive talks over new deals to replace those expiring at the end of the year began in March 2025 after previous proposals were rejected during the summer because of price concerns.

UK universities have pushed publishers for cheaper deals because of the financial pressures facing many institutions, and Jisc said negotiating simultaneously with all five companies had “set a new benchmark for collaboration and competitive pressure”.

It said the “unified” approach – a result of calls for greater collaboration within the sector – has brought about “strong, market-leading offers that maximise value and deliver savings compared to historic pricing”.

Despite the more favourable terms, several UK universities are expected to indicate they will be unable to sign up to the deals with all five publishers.

The agreements mean UK universities that do sign up will have access to more than 11,000 peer-reviewed journals and a million research articles annually.

They are the largest publishing contracts globally in terms of volume of research published and read, as well as spend by institutions.

Jisc said that within the agreements “a new trial will remove fees on a per article basis from certain journals, converting to a fully open access model when thresholds are met”.

This represented a “global first for agreements to include a non-article-based model of this nature”.

Research integrity, reduced administrative burden and sustainable practices have also been prioritised in the negotiations. 

“Securing these agreements is a major achievement for the UK higher education and research communities” said Anna Vernon, head of research licensing at Jisc.

“By working collectively with the sector, we’ve delivered agreements that not only offer excellent value but also set new standards for open research and sustainability.

“We recognise, however, the unprecedented financial crisis impacting institutions across the sector, meaning some will simply not be able to participate in these offers.

“Jisc will continue to offer tailored support to help institutions navigate these challenges while ensuring access to research remains a priority.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com