Elsevier’s offer ‘neither transparent nor sustainable’

After months of negotiation, Germany’s Alliance of Science Organisations and the publisher Elsevier are still at odds over the conditions of a proposed nationwide licensing agreement.

In a statement on 2 December, the alliance said that it had rejected a first offer from Elsevier because it was not consistent with the principles of open access and fair pricing.

The publisher’s offer was reliant on price hikes and rejected more transparent business models based on publication performance and making publications more accessible, the alliance said.