Elsevier and South Africa’s library consortium establish open access agreement

Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics and SANLiC (The South African National Library and Information Consortium), a non-profit organization that represents the interests of academic and research libraries in South Africa, are pleased to announce a transformational agreement that will significantly enhance the research and learning experience for the SANLiC community and support all researchers from participating institutions in publishing their research Open Access.

Under the terms of the agreement, SANLiC's member libraries will have access to Elsevier's extensive collection of scientific, technical, and medical journals, books, and databases. This will provide researchers, students, and faculty members at South African institutions with access to the latest research and knowledge in their fields.

"We are delighted that this agreement includes Open Access publishing rights in hybrid ScienceDirect journals up to a cap of our current annual research output. It also includes a developmental programme to support growth and development in the South African higher education and research community. This is a most significant advance on prior agreements which were limited to read access to these information resources only," said Ellen Tise, Chairperson of the SANLiC Board of Directors. "This agreement enables us to repurpose subscription expenditure to finance Open Access publishing and to significantly enhance the research and learning capabilities of South African institutions."

“This agreement is another example of Elsevier’s commitment to an open future and our ongoing support for the research and education communities in South Africa. We are pleased to be working with SANLiC to provide their member libraries with access to our extensive collection of high-quality content and the opportunities to share their work worldwide," said Felix Haest, Vice President, Elsevier.

The agreement will take effect immediately and will run until the end of 2025 to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of SANLiC's member libraries and the research and education communities in South Africa.

This article was first published on 27 February by Elsevier.