CUP launches 'unprecedented' Open Access expansion with 129 US deals

Cambridge University Press (CUP) says it has launched an “unprecedented” expansion into Open Access (OA) journals, signing 129 new “read and publish” deals with US institutions.

The move will see the number of US institutions participating in such agreements leap from 13 in 2020 to more than 140 in 2021. Those taking part include state university systems, liberal arts colleges and major research universities.

It will see 25% of US-originated research in Cambridge and society-owned journals available to be published through OA at no additional cost to the researcher or institution.

Read and publish agreements repurpose an institution’s existing subscription spend to provide opportunities for its researchers to publish their research through OA. At European institutions where the press has transformative agreements in place, an average of 70% of researchers publishing in Cambridge journals are now choosing OA.

“Given that 75% of journal articles published OA have more citations than their non-OA equivalents, and are downloaded multiple times more often, US researchers could be disadvantaged if their research is behind a paywall,” said Brigitte Shull, CUP's director of scholarly communications research and development.

“As the US is a major producer of high-quality research, it is a priority for the press to find a path forward in OA that works for this important market. Our goal is to bring the benefits of Open Access to all researchers, in all countries and of all subject disciplines, maximizing impact and readership.”

Cambridge University Press has OA agreements with almost 1,000 institutions across 34 countries.

Chris Bennett, CUP's global sales director for academic publishing, said: “The sheer number of deals we have signed in the last year, against a tough economic back-drop, shows strong appetite and support for our push to transform our journals business to open.

"We are committed to transitioning our research journals publishing to full OA by 2025 and Transformative Agreements are an essential element of this strategy, ensuring a sustainable future for OA journals. We have set this goal because we believe OA is better for researchers globally.

“We are working closely with US institutions to understand their specific needs, and as a university press, we have prioritised listening to the realities our customers are facing and finding solutions that work for them.”