Last year negotiations between universities association VSNU and the British publisher about access to published articles ran aground, because OUP supposedly made no offer of “affordable open access”. But the publisher did not deny access to its journals and Dutch academics were able to carry on reading articles as usual.

But now the parties have managed to reach an agreement, and the terms come into force immediately. The deal, says VSNU negotiator Anton Pijpers, board president of Utrecht University, is an important step forward. “Knowledge paid for with public funds should be available to the general public, as it is to all researchers. This agreement shows that major publishers like OUP understand this and are prepared to act accordingly, which is good news for the universities.”

About-turn

The VSNU's position is that all Dutch academic publications should be freely available to everyone as of the year 2020. This requires a financial about-turn. In the old model, universities paid very expensive subscription fees while academics published free of charge. In the new model, academics pay to publish and everyone (from academic to hobbyist) can read their articles for free.