‘Silent decoupling’ under way as Elsevier talks near crunch point

Many more UK universities are likely to “quietly opt out” of the nationally negotiated deals with Elsevier and other publishers, experts predict, with institutions being forced to make up their minds after previous agreements expired.

The University of York and Swansea University have became the seventh and eighth universities to confirm they will not take up a three-year deal with the world’s biggest academic publisher, joining the universities of Sheffield, Lancaster, Surrey, Kent, Essex and Sussex in walking away from direct access to the imprint’s 2,800 journals.

Their decisions follow the end of a month’s grace period for UK universities, following the expiration of the previous deals with the “Big Five” publishers – Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, Wiley and Sage – at the end of December. Institutions must shortly decide whether to accept the deals for 2026-28 negotiated by Jisc on behalf of the UK sector following nine months of talks.

York was one of three UK universities, alongside Sheffield and Surrey, not to renew its deal with Elsevier at the start of 2025. It was widely expected not to accept the revised offer.

Swansea confirmed it was also opting out of the Springer Nature deal, saying “we have concluded that currently it is not sustainable for the university”.

“We remain committed to participating actively in sector‑wide discussions on sustainable publishing models that maximise access to our research and ensure our students and academics can continue to access the resources they need for learning, teaching, and research,” a Swansea spokesperson said. 

Many UK universities have confirmed they will take up the Elsevier deal – including the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Edinburgh – with the publisher insisting “the opt-in rate for this agreement remains high with the vast majority of institutions choosing to take part”.

Another “nine or 10” universities are believed to be locked in talks involving researchers, university executives and library services about whether they will take up various publisher offers, a librarian with knowledge of the Jisc talks told Times Higher Education.

“Those universities which have already declared have the support of the academic community to walk away from Elsevier but there are other places without this consensus,” they explained on these internal discussions within universities.

“Teaching-intensive universities are also weighing up their options; they don’t publish that much but have to pay [for this] under ‘read and publish’ deals. Some of them feel like they’re subsidising the research-intensive universities that publish much more,” they explained.

David Prosser, executive director at Research Libraries UK, said he expected more UK universities to decline the Elsevier deal, as well as those from other publishers, but most of these would do so quietly over the next few months and years.

“There are more institutions stepping away than have been public about it,” he said.

“It’s more of a silent decoupling rather than planting a flag in the ground for everyone to see,” explained Prosser, stating the number exiting Elsevier deals could be “well into double figures, either now or in a year or so”.

“Some institutions might stay a year or two in the Elsevier deal and then leave, as you can always move out of these deals if it’s financially necessary,” he said.

“It’s assumed that it’s just a financial reason for walking away but often it’s the finances, plus dissatisfaction with the current publishing model,” he said, noting that some academics and library staff are “fed up with the slow pace of transition towards sustainable open access and are taking the opportunity to move to a different model”.

“The financial situation allows libraries to step off deals earlier than they could have done,” said Prosser.

In a statement, Elsevier added: “Where a small number of institutions have decided not to opt into the Jisc framework this reflects local financial considerations and we are working with these institutions individually, outside of the Jisc framework, to understand their needs and assess appropriate options.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com