Pioneering new publishing agreement

Royal Danish Library has negotiated an agreement in place with one of the world's largest providers of scientific journals, Elsevier, which gives Danish researchers and universities easier access to publication in the publisher's journals - without additional payment.

A large part of the total global research is today locked behind payment walls, where the scientific publishers demand money both to publish research articles and to provide access to read them. The new agreement means in concrete terms that there will no longer be a ceiling on how many research articles Danish researchers can have printed in Elsevier's publications. In addition, there will be immediate and free access to Danish research publications.

“We have not previously seen national consortia reach an agreement on immediate access without additional cost and without a publishing ceiling. We hope that the Danish result of the negotiations with Elsevier can set a precedent for both future Danish and European negotiations with other publishers, so that we can go even further in the efforts for more open research, ”says Kira Stine Hansen, Deputy Director, Royal Danish Library.

The agreement with Elsevier runs for the next four years, and it is estimated that the agreement as a whole will lead to a saving on Danish expenses for Elsevier.

Negotiations with other major publishers are now ahead.