Agreement on Open Access with Major Publisher

A new agreement with a major international publisher of scientific articles will give Faroese and Danish researchers immediate free access to Faroese and Danish research publications – also known as Open Access.

The Royal Danish Library has negotiated the agreement on behalf of Danish universities. The aim of the negotiation was to strengthen the dissemination of and access to university research for the benefit of society.

The Royal Library is highly satisfied with the agreement which will ensure immediate free read access to Danish research publications published with Elsevier as well as publishing without additional charges.

The agreement with Elsevier also applies for Faroese researchers at institutes who have joined the collaboration on electronic resources (FRIS) which is administered by the Faroese National Library.

The agreement with Elsevier is the first of its kind.

- We have not previously seen national consortia achieve an agreement on immediate access without additional charge or a top limit on publications. We hope that the result of the Danish national negotiations can create a precedent for future negotiations with other publishers so we can come even further in the efforts for more open research, says Kira Stine Hansen, Vice Director of the Royal Danish Library.

A significant proportion of global research is currently locked behind commercial paywalls, with publishers profiting from both read access and publication.

The agreement with Elsevier will run for the next four years, and it is estimated that the agreement will produce a saving on Faroese and Danish expenditure to Elsevier.