Several California universities, in collaboration with Wiley, have established a landmark open access agreement, marking a significant step in advancing open access initiatives in the United States. The partnership involves the University of California (UC) and the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC). This transformative agreement builds on existing partnerships and provides researchers with access to subscription content while supporting open access publication.
Maria DePrano, Professor of Art History at UC Merced, emphasized the opportunity for California scholars to share their work globally and appreciated the collaboration with SCELC and Wiley. The agreement redirects library subscription funds, allowing authors to publish open access in over 1,600 Wiley journals. Authors with grant funds receive discounted open access fees, while those without funding have their publication costs covered.
Liz Ferguson, Senior Vice President at Wiley Research Publishing, expressed pride in the partnership, highlighting its revolutionary approach to advancing open access. The agreement reflects a commitment to making scientific research more widely accessible. Lev Rickards, Assistant Dean for Collections and Scholarly Communication at SCELC, noted the deal's benefits for a diverse array of institutions.
The transformative agreement aims to facilitate affordable open access publication for authors, contributing to the global shift towards sustainable open access. Additionally, Wiley and UC are working on a new global license to publish agreement, prioritizing authors' unrestricted rights to their work. The collaboration showcases the role of multi-institution partnerships in advancing open access and making California's research freely available worldwide.
