MIT ends Elsevier negotiations

To the MIT community,

MIT has long been a leader in sharing its research, teaching, and scholarship openly with the world. In the face of unprecedented global challenges, equitable and open access to knowledge is more critical than ever.

For several months, the MIT Libraries has been in discussions with Elsevier, one of the largest publishers of scholarly journals in the world, about a new journals contract. Guided by the principles of the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts, we sought a contract that would reflect the Institute’s values and needs and preserve our rights to share MIT research openly with the world. Despite our best efforts, including agreeing to a six-month extension of our current contract to provide Elsevier time to develop an offer for us based on principles we shared with them in August 2019, Elsevier was not able to present a proposal that aligned with the framework. After months of good faith negotiations, it became clear that Elsevier could not meet our needs, so we ended negotiations at the conclusion of our six-month extension.

Access for the MIT community

Here is what the contract cancellation means for the MIT community:

• As soon as July 1, Elsevier journal articles published in 2020 and forward will not be available at MIT through Elsevier’s website. We have retained perpetual access to pre-2020 articles in most cases.
• For articles published in 2020 forward and other articles without perpetual access, the MIT community can request articles through interlibrary borrowing, explore open access options, or ask us for assistance; more details on these access options are available on the Libraries' website. 
• Access to e-books, book series, handbooks, reference works, and databases published by Elsevier is not affected.

Background on publisher negotiations

The MIT Libraries has been using the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts to guide negotiations with scholarly publishers since October 2019. Developed in collaboration with the MIT Committee on the Library System (CLS) and the Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT’s Research, the framework affirms the overarching principle that control of scholarship and its dissemination should reside with scholars and their institutions. It aims to ensure that scholarly research outputs are openly and equitably available to the broadest possible audience while providing valued services to the MIT community.

More than 100 institutions endorsed the MIT Framework in recognition of its potential to advance open scholarship and the public good. Starting in November 2019, the CLS, led by chair Roger Levy, associate professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, held information sessions with departments throughout the Institute on open access, the framework, and ongoing negotiations with scholarly publishers, including Elsevier, and received widespread support for the framework.

We hope to be able to resume productive negotiations with Elsevier in the future as we continue to rely on the MIT Framework as a foundation to successfully negotiate new contracts with a range of publishers.

You can read more about the Elsevier cancellation in MIT News. If you have questions, please see our FAQs. Library staff can help with requests for specific articles.

Sincerely,

Chris Bourg
Director, MIT Libraries           

Roger Levy
Associate Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Chair, Committee on the Library System