A team representing university libraries has suspended negotiations with for-profit journal giant Elsevier on subscription costs and community access to its content. But rival Taylor and Francis has reached in principal agreement with the Council of Australasian University Librarians.
It is the first of four negotiations between CAUL and the biggest commercial publishers of academic research, building on break-through 2022 agreements, when universities combined to secure industry-wide terms.
CAUL states that all ANZ university research published by Taylor and Francis “can be freely accessed by members of the public.” The original for-profit model across the industry was based on paid access by subscription or purchase of single articles, both of which effectively excluded readers outside universities. In response to mainly European Union opposition publishers have moved from pay to read to open access funded by institutions, often based on “article processing charges” that institutions pay on behalf of researchers.
But while talks with publishers Wiley and Springer-Nature continue, they are off with Elsevier, the colossus of academic content. The STM Division of RelX Corporation, which includes Elsevier, had a first half 2025 operating profit of A$1bn. CAUL states discussions are “paused” over disagreement “on major commercial terms” including pricing.
“The growing costs of both library subscriptions and open access publishing has become unaffordable for universities” Deakin VC Iain Martin, lead negotiator for the universities said.
Macquarie U and Uni Wollongong were quick to announce they were cancelling subscriptions to Elsevier journals and others will follow. Across the ditch, Radio New Zealand reported the negotiations “were the battle of the century for universities.”
Elsevier had not commented by deadline but has long taken a hard line in negotiations, notably with the European Union but an open access agreement with the University of California network took two years.
Journal publishing has long been profitable for publishers, particularly since production and distribution switched from print to digital delivery. Researchers are not paid for articles, nor are the generality of peer-reviewers who vet content.