February 12, 2021 Report Open Access

Transformative Agreements: Overview, Case Studies, and Legal Analysis

Szprot, Jakub; Gruenpeter, Natalia; Rycko, Nikodem; Siewicz, Krzysztof; Schimmer, Ralf; Campbell, Colleen; Karlstrøm, Nina; Andenæs, Nils; Lundén, Anna; Wideberg, Britt-Marie

The aim of the report „Transformative Agreements: Overview, Case Studies, and Legal Analysis” is to present the current situation regarding ‘transformative agreements’ understood as a means of transitioning from a subscription-based model of scientific publishing to full and immediate open access. In chapter one, the authors present transformative agreements in the context of Plan S; in chapter two, they outline the current state of negotiations and agreements between scientific institutions and publishers in various countries; in chapter three, they provide legal analysis of the agreements from the ESAC Transformative Agreement Registry. Chapter four consists of three case studies (Germany, Norway, Sweden); finally, chapter five is devoted to recommendations. 

The report, edited by Jakub Szprot and Natalia Gruenpeter, was prepared as part of the Open Science Platform activities by a team of authors from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling at the University of Warsaw (Natalia Gruenpeter, Nikodem Rycko, Krzysztof Siewicz, Jakub Szprot). 

Case studies:

• Germany: Ralf Schimmer, Colleen Campbell, Max Planck Digital Library 
• Norway: Nina Karlstrøm, Nils Andenæs, The Norwegian Directorate for ICT and Joint Services in Higher Education and Research (Unit) 
• Sweden: Anna Lundén, Britt-Marie Wideberg, National Library of Sweden