{"id":5748,"date":"2015-12-11T11:53:27","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T10:53:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/12\/11\/gerard-meijer-elsevierdeal-is-goed-voor-de-wetenschappers\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:19","slug":"gerard-meijer-elsevierdeal-is-goed-voor-de-wetenschappers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2015\/12\/11\/gerard-meijer-elsevierdeal-is-goed-voor-de-wetenschappers\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerard Meijer: \u2018Elsevier deal is good news for scientists\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChris Devers<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cThis agreement is a good example of what VSNU can achieve, if all universities cooperate and stand strong together\u201d, said Gerard Meijer, summarising the Elsevier negotiations. The agreement in principle the Dutch publisher and the Dutch universities have entered into constitutes a major step towards open access<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Gerard Meijer<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRadboud Universiteit<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

Meijer, who is President of the Executive Board of Radboud University, led the negotiations on behalf of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and said he was very pleased with the outcome. \u201cThe outcome of the negotiations is a major breakthrough\u201d, he explained. \u201cThe Netherlands is now the first country in the world to ensure that the percentage of articles, which will be published in Elsevier journals and will be made freely available over the next three years, will increase by ten percent each year, at no additional cost for the universities, nor for the Dutch citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reassurance <\/h3>

Many of the details are still to be finalised, but even so, VSNU felt it was important to issue a press release on the agreement in principle. \u201cI want to reassure scientists\u201d, said Meijer. \u201cCome January, they will have access to all Elsevier\u2019s scientific articles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The universities and Elsevier have yet to determine which scientific journals will be open access from now on. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at certain fields. We haven\u2019t decided yet which ones they\u2019re going to be. The obvious decision would be to choose those fields where open-access publications are quite common, such as technological studies and medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good news for scientists<\/h3>

Tempers flared during the negotiations. On behalf of the Dutch universities, Meijer told Elsevier that he was prepared to fight for open access. He considers it a major victory that 30 percent of all articles written by Dutch scientists and published by Elsevier will be open access by 2018. \u201cOf course, I was aiming for a higher percentage, but I\u2019m very satisfied with this deal. It fits in with State Secretary Dekker\u2019s ambition to ensure that all Dutch scientists\u2019 publications will be open access ten years from now. Initially, Elsevier tried to separate the negotiations on journal subscriptions and open-access publications. The fact that both these things have been discussed in tandem and that we\u2019ve arrived at such a deal shows that Elsevier is willing to meet us halfway. I genuinely believe that this deal is good news for scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems likely that similar arrangements will be agreed elsewhere in the world. \u201cThe open-access movement is not a uniquely Dutch phenomenon, but rather a global movement\u201d, said Meijer. \u201cOther countries and university partnership associations will now want to strike deals similar to the one we\u2019ve just struck. I\u2019m curious to see how it pans out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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