SUNY ends “big deal” agreement with Elsevier, moves to reduced subscription package focused on core titles
Following extensive negotiations, SUNY and Elsevier could not reach mutually acceptable terms on renewing our license to ScienceDirect. Rather than canceling access to all subscribed Elsevier ScienceDirect titles, however, the negotiating team worked to develop a core list of approximately 250 titles that we will subscribe to as a system, based on volume and intensity of usage across SUNY, with a focus on the needs of SBU and the other university centers as the primary users of Elsevier content. This approach will save SUNY institutions $7 million annually while retaining subscription access to those Elsevier journal titles with significant SBU usage and SBU affiliation.
The new agreement with Elsevier also includes the added benefit of a 10% discount on article processing charges (APCs) for all SBU (and SUNY) authors wishing to publish open access in Elsevier journals.
The University Libraries will continue to assess the need for additional subscriptions to Elsevier journals based on institutional data and input from the campus community. Our forecasting indicates that with using our pre-existing access to ScienceDirect content for the period 2010-2019, along with Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery and a growing body of open access content, needs for teaching, research and scholarship will continue to be met. The new agreement with Elsevier took effect April 1, 2020 and will be reflected in the Library’s SEARCH discovery system within the next week.
As we announce this new agreement with Elsevier, everyone should be reminded of the following:
- There is a growing list of several hundred fully open access Elsevier titles. Browse ScienceDirect Open Access Journals
- SBU’s subscription to the ClinicalKey package containing several hundred Elsevier titles is NOT impacted by this new agreement. Browse ClinicalKey Journals
- SBU retains access to most of the back files (2010 – 2019) of the ScienceDirect titles
Please send your feedback and/or recommendations through any of the following:
- Library Comments/Suggestions form
- Contact your Library Liaison
- Library Resource Recommendation form
Alternative access options for titles (articles) no longer with a subscription at SBU
Find an Open Access (OA) copy:
- Unpaywall (OA plug-in and service)
- Open Access Button (OA plug-in and service)
- Google Scholar
- Pubmed Central
- ArXiv
- OSF Preprints (searches multiple preprint services)
Use your network – Request a copy from the author
Request a copy via the Library’s Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery service.