Progress and challenges in Open Access Agreements at the University of California

Mathew Willmott

Assistant Director for Open Access Agreements, CDL

OA2020 US Working Group and Community of Practice Webinar

May 2, 2023

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Transformative Agreements at UC/CDL

• Guidance from faculty and adminstration:
• Pursue agreements which shift investments from subscriptions to OA support
• Dual goal of cost containment and full transition to OA

• Part of a larger strategy for open access:
• OA Policy and institutional repository
• Library publishing platform
• Investments in other publishing models

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Multipayer model

Primary drivers:

• Engage authors in economics of publishing
• Supplement redirected library subscription funds

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Agreement progress

As of 2023:

• 15 UC-wide transformative agreements (including top five by volume)�
• ~54% of UC publications will be eligible for OA publication under an agreement�
• Working on negotiations with publishers covering another 15%

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Agreement outcomes

• Over 10,000 UC-authored articles made open access under these agreements since 2019�
• 67% of eligible articles made OA in 2022 (preliminary assessment)
• 53% of eligible articles in hybrid journals made OA�
• Contributions from grant funds by authors:
• In hybrid journals: ~30%, and increasing
• In full OA journals: ~70%, and declining�
• Most agreements have some cost avoidance compared to status quo projections

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Challenges to address

• Author experience
• Build strategies to simplify the space for authors
• Improve education and support to increase uptake

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• Completing the transition
• Long tail of smaller publishers
• Supporting full OA publishers
• Focus on humanities, social sciences
• Where are other models more appropriate?

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Mathew Willmott

mathew.willmott@ucop.edu

Thank you!

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