Open-access publishers blast rivals’ ‘transformative’ deals

Group urges binding agreements that ‘genuinely’ promote a transition to greater openness

Five purely open-access publishers have criticised the so-called ‘transformative’ deals their competitors have agreed with research organisations, saying they are “not genuinely transformative”.

These deals, also called publish-and-read agreements, generally provide access to the content of publishers’ subscription journals and set a price for publication in their open-access journals and ‘hybrid’ journals, which offer both models. They have been praised by some for helping publications move away from the subscription model towards greater openness.