Open-access talks continue at Italy’s research council

Publisher price hike has delayed signing of contracts despite subscription growth across the country

Efforts by Italy’s National Research Council, the CNR, to promote open-access publishing are being met with significant resistance from publishers, the organisation’s leadership has warned.

As a result of subscription price increases and subsequent renegotiation, some important contracts are still on hold, according to Giovanni De Simone, the director of the CNR’s central library. CNR scientists remain without access to journals and ebooks published by Springer, the American Chemical Society and Taylor & Francis, he said, with negotiations with these publishers still ongoing.