Jisc and Universities UK say publishers must cut their fees given pandemic’s impact on sector
Major academic publishers have been told to reduce the cost of their agreements with universities by a quarter given the pandemic’s impact on sector finances.
In a joint letter sent on 17 June on behalf of the sector, higher-education IT firm Jisc and vice-chancellors’ body Universities UK urged publishers to work with Jisc to implement discounts and measures to provide “flexible pricing that offers institutions meaningful options”.
Jisc and UUK note that the higher-education sector is expecting a loss of income from accommodation, catering and conferences in the region of £790 million, with a further loss of up to £6.9 billion that normally comes from fees from international students.
“The depth of the financial challenge facing universities and their libraries is unprecedented,” said Stephen Decent, chair of the group. The group says institutions are now focusing on preparing for online course delivery in September and examining what digital content they can afford to maintain given the hole in their budgets.
“Tough decisions will need to be made and cancellations at some institutions are a reality,” said Decent.
“Our collaborative effort should result in the ability to reduce expenditure without disproportionate loss of content, especially now that many universities will be reviewing the balance of budgets between supporting digital learning and supporting research.”
Separately, Jisc has appointed Liz Bal as new director of open research services. Bal started her career at BioMed Central, and was most recently responsible for the strategic development of a portfolio of life science journals at publisher Springer Nature.
“Now, more than ever, it’s evident that open research is crucial for the advancement of science and society,” Bal said. “This means openness throughout the research lifecycle, making the process and outputs of research as open as possible, as early as possible.”