Three extra U.Okay. universities have confirmed they don’t seem to be taking subscriptions to Elsevier journals, with one Russell Group establishment hitting out on the “financially unsustainable” phrases of the nationally agreed deal.
In a press release printed Jan. 27, the College of Sheffield revealed it was signing as much as three-year offers with Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, Wiley and Sage however was strolling away from a proposal by Elsevier, the world’s largest tutorial writer.
“Sadly, the Elsevier deal continues to be financially unsustainable and we won’t be ready to subscribe to this deal,” it defined.
Lancaster College and the College of Surrey have additionally confirmed they won’t signal one other take care of Elsevier, becoming a member of the schools of Essex, Kent and Sussex amongst these strolling away from direct entry to the imprint’s 2,800 journals.
Each establishments added they might take up offers with the 4 different predominant publishers.
Sheffield and Surrey have been amongst three U.Okay. universities to terminate their earlier take care of Elsevier initially of 2025. The third establishment— the College of York—has not but commented publicly on whether or not it’s taking on Elsevier’s revised supply for 2026 onwards, however its library website signifies researchers should not have entry to the writer’s titles.
In December, the sector IT physique Jisc, which has been main talks with the “huge 5” tutorial publishers on behalf of the U.Okay. sector, introduced it had concluded negotiations after 9 months of talks. Whereas many universities, together with the schools of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford, have confirmed they’re taking on all of the offers, some establishments have chosen to reject the supply from Elsevier, which publishes Cell and The Lancet, on price grounds.
In line with Sheffield’s assertion, its resolution to decide out of the Elsevier deal displays “proposals agreed with the College Government Board to considerably cut back library spending on assets over a three-year interval in response each to monetary pressures and ongoing issues in regards to the sustainability of the business scientific publishing mannequin.”
“The principle focus for the beginning of 2026 has been on the most important ‘huge offers’ (together with Sage, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, and Wiley) which expired in December 2025,” it continued, including it “evaluations all subscriptions for worth for cash on an annual foundation.”
A Lancaster College spokesperson stated: “Whereas agreements with Sage, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis and Wiley for 2026 onwards are in place following Jisc negotiations, [the university’s] take care of Elsevier has not been renewed.”
Confirming its non-renewal of the Elsevier deal late January, the College of Essex stated it was “sad with the worth will increase, and Elsevier’s unwillingness to decide to a shift towards a extra sustainable mannequin of open entry publishing.”
Universities had been looking for worth reductions of between 5 and 15 p.c on the $152 million spent yearly with these 5 publishing homes when their offers expired on the finish of 2025.
In a press release, Elsevier stated it was “delighted to see a excessive stage of participation in our settlement throughout the sector, whereas recognizing that monetary pressures imply a handful of establishments might want to work with us individually to evaluate their choices.”
“Along with Jisc, we proceed to advance open entry in methods which can be sustainable and equitable, whereas guaranteeing U.Okay. researchers have entry to trusted, high-quality content material and revolutionary instruments that assist discovery and societal impression,” it added.
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