Academic publishers must move towards a ¡°fairly and transparently priced¡± model of open-access research because the current system has become ¡°financially unsustainable¡±, a group of leading British research universities has warned.

In a statement published on 12 June as negotiations with the world¡¯s five largest academic publishers?continue, the N8 Research Partnership, which represents eight large research-intensive universities in the north of England, calls for fundamental reform in how scholarly research is published, claiming existing deals due to expire this year have become financially unviable.

Highlighting the ¡°unprecedented burden on UK university finances¡± caused by declining international student numbers and the erosion of the real-terms value of undergraduate fees in recent years, the N8 statement says the UK higher education sector faces a ¡°pivotal moment¡±.

¡°Most research in N8 universities is publicly funded, with researchers providing this content, and peer review and editorial services to publishers, largely free of charge, while at the same time being charged to read and publish the knowledge that they have generated,¡± it states, adding: ¡°This situation has now reached the point where this is financially unsustainable.¡±

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¡°As the N8 Research Partnership we will work collectively to encourage publishers to move towards fairly and transparently priced, open access, academically rigorous and value-added publishing platforms and services,¡± it adds.

To this effect, the statement developed by library directors, pro vice-chancellors for research and vice-chancellors from the N8 universities ¨C Durham, Lancaster, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York ¨C says it will begin ¡°exploring and promoting shared infrastructure opportunities and developing the scholarly publication routes available to researchers, including an ¡®enhanced green open access¡¯ (self-archiving) offer¡±.

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In addition, it will start ¡°investing in non-profit tools, platforms and resources to increase the uptake of, and embedding of, open research and scholarship practices¡±.

The joint statement comes ahead of?between Jisc and Universities UK and the ¡°Big Five¡± academic publishers ¨C Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Sage ¨C with institutions adamant that new deals must achieve both cost savings and offer greater pricing transparency.

Several UK universities have already?opted to exit their deals with certain publishers early, claiming they cannot afford to renew for an additional year in light of the cost pressures that have forced many institutions to announce redundancy plans.

Charlie Jeffery, chair of the N8 and vice-chancellor of the University of York, said its warning reflected concerns that academic publishers had not accepted the financial realities faced by the UK sector.

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¡°For too long, we¡¯ve seen the consolidation of scholarly publishing into the hands of a few major commercial players whose priorities are increasingly divorced from the academic communities they were meant to serve,¡± said Jeffery.?

¡°Our researchers are delivering work that will help improve the world around us. They then review and edit this work ¨C often without compensation ¨C and yet institutions are charged both to publish and to access this knowledge,¡± he continued, adding that ¡°the balance has tipped too far, and we hope this statement represents a first step towards the N8 working with publishers to develop a different approach that will benefit all parties.¡±?

?jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com