Jisc Collections and Elsevier Sign Landmark UK Agreement, Securing Access to Research Publications and Initiating Open Science Collaboration

LONDON, November 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The UK's research institutions and the world-leading provider of science, technology and medical information products and services signed today a landmark agreement granting academics access to globally-published, high-quality research at costs lower than the industry average. In addition, Jisc Collections and Elsevier have agreed to cooperate on several Open Science opportunities, leveraging Elsevier's world class technology and analytics capabilities to help make science in the UK more collaborative, transparent, effective, and efficient.

The 5-year contract grants subscription access to around 1,850 journals on Elsevier's ScienceDirect e-platform.

"Jisc Collections' analysis shows that over the course of our previous agreement, Elsevier research articles have been of excellent quality at a price per accessible article below the average for the agreements that Jisc Collections negotiates with other publishers," said Paul Feldman, CEO of Jisc. "Our new ScienceDirect subscription agreement means that in the next five years UK universities will again benefit from Elsevier's outstanding article quality while they continuously push the price per accessible article below industry average. As such, Elsevier will continue to deliver exceptional value for research and teaching across the UK. Combined with our collaboration on Open Science projects, these components add up to a landmark agreement of extraordinary value." 

Professor Sir David Eastwood, Vice Chancellor at University of Birmingham, said: "I am delighted that we have reached an agreement that recognises the needs of the sector, and the need to ensure affordable access to high-quality content for UK researchers. The agreement offers stability for the sector and for Elsevier, and we hope to build on the many positive aspects of our discussions."

Gino Ussi, Executive Vice President at Elsevier, said: "With this agreement, Jisc Collections and Elsevier have lived up to their shared responsibility of providing the best possible value for the UK research community and set the stage for a fruitful partnership going forward. In addition to providing content quality above the industry average, we will work together on open science initiatives, enabling UK researchers to collaborate, share and use content and data to help them make breakthrough discoveries for the benefit of society."

About Jisc 

Jisc is the UK higher, further education and skills sectors' not-for-profit organisation for digital services and solutions. We operate:

• shared digital infrastructure and services
• negotiate sector-wide deals with IT vendors and commercial publishers and  
• provide trusted advice and practical assistance for universities, colleges and learning providers.

About Elsevier 

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions - among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Research Intelligence and ClinicalKey - and publishes over 2,500 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and more than 35,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. www.elsevier.com

Media contact
Georgie Myers
Jisc Collections
+44 203 815 5559
georgie.myers@jisc.ac.uk

Harald Boersma
Elsevier
+31 20 485 2736
h.boersma@elsevier.com