In the past few years, we have begun to see a shift in academic publishing practices around that world; focus has shifted to transforming scholarly communications and prioritizing the immediate and open dissemination of publicly funded research, while initiating cost controls that address the rising cost of licensed subscription content, such as journals.
Back in late 2019, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN), released their 2019-2024 Strategic Plan, where a major component of their planning focused on this transformation and advancing access to knowledge for Canadians and the world. As the University of Toronto Libraires (UTL) partners with other Canadian universities through CRKN to negotiate access to a wide range of resources, this consortia enables us to leverage our collective purchasing power, and be an agent of change within Canada. Around this same time, UTL also endorsed the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts, which was developed to guide negotiations with publishers, and to advance open scholarship and the public good.
We are very pleased to share the news that CRKN has published their own set of Licensing Principles, which clearly indicates what our expectations are when working with vendors and publishing partners. It is through CRKN that UTL negotiates access to journal packages such as Elsevier, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell and Taylor & Francis, and these licensing principles will certainly impact negotiations with these publishers going forward.
Originally published: February 22, 2021