| Publisher |
Royal Society of Chemistry |
| Agreement ID | rsc2024tib |
| Agreement labeling | RSC Platinum Agreement |
| Has the agreement been disclosed and published? | Yes |
| URL | Agreement |
| Agreement period | 01/01/2024 – 31/12/2027 |
| Consortia / Institution | TIB Consortium |
| Country | Germany |
| SIZE
Approximate range of annual corresponding author publications |
800 |
| COSTS
How do the costs of the agreement relate to previous subscription-only agreements with the publisher? |
Cost increase |
| Comments on cost development | Cost increase compared to previous Read & Publish Agreement due to inclusion of Gold OA journals |
| FINANCIAL SHIFT
Transformative agreements vary by their transformative mechanisms, meaning the way in which financing is shifted from the subscription side to open access publishing. What are the characteristics of this agreement to this regard? |
See comment on access costs |
| RISK SHARING
How do entitlements for open access publishing correlate to the anticipated article output? Which mechanisms for risk sharing have been agreed in cases of exceeding or not reaching the number of OA publishing entitlements? |
The financial risk for participating institutions is minimal because a) the agreement allows for unlimited publishing, and b) the annual fee is fixed for the contract term. In addition, a “mid-term-review” has been agreed in which consortium leader may terminate the agreement in case the “equivalent article cost” exceeds the usual price range for the industry in Germany. |
| OA COVERAGE
Are all journals relevant to your affiliated authors (in which you expect them to publish) eligible for oa publishing under the agreement? |
Yes |
| Are fully open access journals covered by the agreement? | Yes |
| OA LICENSE | CC-BY preference, exceptions allowed |
| ARTICLE TYPES |
Original research articles Review articles |
| ACCESS COSTS
What is the approximate share of access related costs of the overall agreement? |
20%-50% |
| Comments on access costs | Financing significantly shifts from access cost to OA publishing over the course of the agreement term (4 years). However, a part of the annual fee remains to be attributed to access (read fee / base fee). |
| ACCESS COVERAGE
Are all read relevant journals covered by the agreement? |
Yes |
| PERPETUAL ACCESS RIGHTS | Yes |
| WORKFLOW ASSESSMENT | Ok |
| OVERALL ASSESSMENT AND COMMENTS | The aim of this agreement is to bridge the gap from 2024 to 2028 when the RSC plans to transition all its fully owned journals to Open Access. Over the next four years, this agreement will assist all parties, including non-publishing institutions, to move from the current hybrid model (“Read & Publish”) to a fully Open Access model in a sustainable and equitable manner. With the entire portfolio (including Gold OA journals) covered for the first time, this deal also allows authors to choose their RSC publication venue irrespective of financial considerations. For the TIB Consortium, this is the first “truly transformative” agreement, as it as a clear flipping commitment at its end. |
| Request contact to the licensee | contact [at] esac-initiative [dot] org |