• Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
    • Advertise On IP Watch
    • Editorial Calendar
  • Videos
  • Links
  • Help

Intellectual Property Watch

Original news and analysis on international IP policy

  • Copyright
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Opinions
  • People News
  • Venues
    • Bilateral/Regional Negotiations
    • ITU/ICANN
    • United Nations – other
    • WHO
    • WIPO
    • WTO/TRIPS
    • Africa
    • Asia/Pacific
    • Europe
    • Latin America/Caribbean
    • North America
  • Themes
    • Access to Knowledge/ Open Innovation & Science
    • Food Security/ Agriculture/ Genetic Resources
    • Finance
    • Health & IP
    • Human Rights
    • Internet Governance/ Digital Economy/ Cyberspace
    • Lobbying
    • Technical Cooperation/ Technology Transfer
  • Health Policy Watch

No Deal: German Universities Prepare For Cut-Off From Elsevier Journals

16/12/2016 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch 9 Comments

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

After licensing negotiations between German university libraries and Elsevier failed at the beginning of the month, over 60 university libraries in Germany are preparing to be cut off from hundreds of journals of the British-Dutch publisher, after a standoff over pricing and access.

The university libraries organised in the DEAL initiative rejected an offer made by Elsevier earlier this month for a first nationwide licence, because of an aggressive pricing and flaws in the access models.

The offer made by Elsevier to DEAL would “not comply with the principles of open access,” the librarians of the University of Goettingen wrote in a message to their users, and “despite its current profit margin of 40 percent, the publisher is still intent on pursuing even higher price increases.”

With the stop of the negotiations access to future journal editions be cut off on 1 January, when current licenses are expiring. But there will also be no access to archived editions of journals licensed under “individual e-packages for the economic sciences in particular,” according to the message.

For years, university libraries have grappled with the problem that they were unable to afford the journal packages that were filled for free from their scientists in the first place. Librarians after the cut-off will assist those needing access via alternative channels, like interlibrary loans, the message from Goettingen reads.

The fight between universities and the big publishing houses has been going on for some time, with a development similar to the DEAL initiative in Germany on the way by FinELIB in Finland. Over 16,000 scientists followed the call of renowned mathematician Tim Gowers in 2012 not to further publish or peer-review for Elsevier.

But the effect has obviously made no big impression on the publisher so far and a recent study showed that 38 percent of the signatories did not keep up with the commitment made. Who will win in the standoff between universities and publishers after January remains to be seen.

Meanwhile British scientists filed a complaint over potential market abuse by Elsevier with the British Competition and Market Authority.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Monika Ermert may be reached at info@ip-watch.ch.

Creative Commons License"No Deal: German Universities Prepare For Cut-Off From Elsevier Journals" by Intellectual Property Watch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Filed Under: IP Policies, Language, Themes, Venues, Access to Knowledge/ Education, Copyright Policy, English, Europe, Finance, Regional Policy

Comments

  1. steelgraham says

    17/12/2016 at 11:54 am

    Elsevier are from the Netherlands, not Britain.

    Reply
  2. Rachel Schmidt says

    18/12/2016 at 3:39 pm

    I support Germany’s action. I know Germany’s decision is a difficult one to make, but big publishing houses have to realize they cannot hold information hostage. Until that happens, actions like Germany’s have to be supported, joined, and applauded!! Researchers have to take the plunge away from publishing with big publishing houses and hope that the research world will respect their decision. As difficult as this decision is, they must realize they will be the losers if they continue to march to the drumbeat of big publishing. I don’t minimize this decision – very difficult to make, and I don’t doubt the retribution might be great from big publishing. But, that is when the remainder of the world must join forces to support and fight on their behalf. The current system is unfair to everyone except for the publisher.

    Reply
  3. William New says

    19/12/2016 at 5:09 pm

    Thank you steelgraham. Our understanding is that Elsevier is the Dutch multinational, and subsidiary of British-Dutch RELX Group (majority British). We will change it in the story to British-Dutch. – the Editor

    Reply
  4. ebev says

    26/12/2016 at 3:49 pm

    Supply and Demand. It’s always possible for a business to price itself right out of existence. With a profit margin of 40%, it seems that they have options; but are they too foolish to recognize their danger?

    Reply
  5. louis lapidaire says

    04/01/2017 at 2:10 am

    try http://www.oalibrary.org brought to you by united academics (united-academics.org)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Пиратка из Казахстана стала человеком года по версии ведущего научно says:
    20/12/2016 at 11:43 am

    […] недавно более 60 университетских библиотек в Германии объявили бойкот подавшему этот иск издательству, ссылаясь на […]

    Reply
  2. Os boicots a Elsevier, as consecuencias e algunhas preguntas | Fonseca says:
    20/12/2016 at 1:40 pm

    […] día 15 leíamos a nova de que o consorcio de bibliotecas universitarias alemanas DEAL anunciaba a interrupción das negociacións con Elsevier de cara ao ano 2017. DEAL, do que forman parte preto de sesenta universidades alemanas, basea a súa […]

    Reply
  3. From my diary – Roger Pearse says:
    24/12/2016 at 4:34 pm

    […] good news.  It seems that German universities have had enough of the academic journal rip-off.  Sixty universities are refusing to renew their subscriptions with Elsevier at the end of the year.  The reason?  […]

    Reply
  4. German Universities Prepare For Cut-Off From Elsevier Journals – Degree99 says:
    19/02/2018 at 9:12 am

    […] potential market abuse by Elsevier with the British Competition and Market Authority. Link | http://www.ip-watch.org/2016/12/16/no-deal-german-universities-prepare-cut-off-elsevier-journals/ Regards Pralhad Jadhav Senior Manager @ Library Khaitan & […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
My Tweets

IPW News Briefs

Saudis Seek Alternative Energy Partners Through WIPO Green Program

Chinese IP Officials Complete Study Of UK, European IP Law

Perspectives on the US

In US, No Remedies For Growing IP Infringements

US IP Law – Big Developments On The Horizon In 2019

More perspectives on the US...

Supported Series: Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities

Civil Society And TRIPS Flexibilities Series – Translations Now Available

The Myth Of IP Incentives For All Nations – Q&A With Carlos Correa

Read the TRIPS flexibilities series...

Paid Content

Interview With Peter Vanderheyden, CEO Of Article One Partners

More paid content...

IP Delegates in Geneva

  • IP Delegates in Geneva
  • Guide to Geneva-based Public Health and IP Organisations

All Story Categories

Other Languages

  • Français
  • Español
  • 中文
  • اللغة العربية

Archives

  • Archives
  • Monthly Reporter

Staff Access

  • Writers

Sign up for free news alerts

This site uses cookies to help give you the best experience on our website. Cookies enable us to collect information that helps us personalise your experience and improve the functionality and performance of our site. By continuing to read our website, we assume you agree to this, otherwise you can adjust your browser settings. Please read our cookie and Privacy Policy. Our Cookies and Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2022 · Global Policy Reporting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.