UK universities strike deal with four major publishers

Four of the “Big Five” academic publishers have agreed terms for deals with UK universities.

In a statement published on 12 December, Jisc announced it had reached “sector-agreed thresholds for acceptance” with Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis.

Proposals from Sage will be considered later as they did not meet an October deadline to allow consultation, added Jisc, which has negotiated on behalf of UK universities throughout the year.

The announcement signals the end of the nine months of negotiations that began in March 2025, with universities seeking substantial price reductions in light of the financial challenges facing the sector.

Proposals submitted before the summer were decisively rejected by universities, with offers from Elsevier and Springer Nature deemed to require significant price drops to allow approval.

The agreed terms will now be put to universities with several institutions indicating they are unlikely to sign up to deals with all five main publishers.

“Acceptability of these agreements ultimately lies with institutions. Each institution will decide whether to take up the offer,” explained Jisc. “Financial pressures may mean that some institutions may need to exit agreements.

“Jisc will support any institutions that cannot afford agreements by assessing implications and exploring options, including obtaining quotations, supporting individual negotiations and scenario modelling,” it continued.

With existing deals set to expire at the end of 2025, “grace access periods will cover any interim gaps” in journal access while the “details of each publisher offer [are] fully defined” and “finalised [offers] made available for institutions to review and order”, Jisc added.

Commenting on the negotiation process, Jisc added that “negotiating with all five publishers simultaneously has created healthy competitive pressure”.

“Their offers are stronger than those achieved by other consortia worldwide, showing the power of a unified sector approach under the Next Generation Open Access programme,” it said.

“There is strong appetite for change: academics and institutions recognise the need to reform business models, reduce workloads and protect academic integrity.”