A consortium of 85 Swedish universities and research institutions cancelled their contract with the publisher Elsevier after unsuccessful negotiations. Astrid Söderbergh Widding, chair of the Bibsam consortium steering committee and Head of the negotiation team, writes that “negotiations have broken down because the business model that Elsevier (and many other big publishing companies) have, and which leads to academic institutions paying three times, is completely infeasible.”
Taking steps towards the goal of immediate open access by 2026 set by the Swedish Government, the Bibsam Consortium required:
However, Elsevier has been unable to present a model that meets the demands of the consortium, which is why the current agreement will not be renewed after 30th of June. Once the contract ends, researchers from participating organizations will continue to have access to articles published between 1995 and 2017, however subscription-based content published after June 30 will be unavailable.
Tip: To access subscription-based content legally and for free, check out Unpaywall and the Open Access Button, or consider inter-library loans.