Elsevier and Council of Australian University Librarians sign agreement to support transition to open access publishing alongside continued research access for Australia and New Zealand researchers

Elsevier(opens in new tab/window), a global leader in research publishing and information analytics, today announced that it has signed an agreement with the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL(opens in new tab/window)) – the negotiating body representing universities in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) – to provide immediate open access to ANZ research for the world and continued access to global research for ANZ readers.

The three-year agreement addresses CAUL’s goals for a rapid and sustainable transition to open access publishing and represents the largest transformative agreement for both countries.

Under the agreement, which takes effect from January 2023, ANZ researchers at CAUL-affiliated academic institutions that participate in the agreement can make their research articles immediately available via open access publishing in Elsevier’s journals

Robert Gerrity, Board Director of CAUL and University Librarian at Monash University, said: “We see this agreement with Elsevier as a vital step in providing greater value to researchers in Australia and New Zealand through the inclusion of open access publishing. While this agreement provides opportunities for authors to share research more widely, we will continue to work with Elsevier to evolve this agreement to meet the needs of individual universities and their different research profiles. This agreement is an important first step in that journey.”

Gemma Hersh, SVP of Global Academic & Government Sales, Elsevier, said: “We are delighted to continue building on our long-standing relationship with CAUL with an agreement that supports the priorities of the ANZ research community to transition to open access. We are grateful to CAUL for their partnership and pragmatism in reaching what is now the largest transformative agreement across Australasia and we look forward to continuing our partnership with ANZ institutions.”

As one of the fastest-growing open access publishers in the world, nearly all of Elsevier's 2,800 journals enable open access publishing, including 600 fully open access journals. We now support over 2,000 institutions globally to publish open access through transformative agreements. In 2021 Elsevier published 119,000 gold or pay-to-publish open access articles, an increase of more than 46% over 2020.

About Elsevier

As a global leader in information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making for customers across the global research and health ecosystems. In everything we publish, we uphold the highest standards of quality and integrity. We bring that same rigor to our information analytics solutions for researchers, academic leaders, funders, R&D-intensive corporations, doctors, and nurses.  

Elsevier employs 9,000 people worldwide, including over 2,500 technologists. We have supported the work of our research and health partners for more than 140 years. Growing from our roots in publishing, we offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive societal progress. Digital solutions such as ScienceDirect,  Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath support strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, medical education, and nursing education. Researchers and healthcare professionals rely on over 2,800 journals, including The Lancet(opens in new tab/window) and Cell(opens in new tab/window); 46,000+ eBook titles; and iconic reference works, such as Gray's Anatomy. With the Elsevier Foundation(opens in new tab/window) and our external Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Board, we work in partnership with diverse stakeholders to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world. 

Elsevier is part of RELX(opens in new tab/window), a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.