UC and Elsevier A blueprint for publisher negotiations Jeff MacKie-Mason University Librarian, University of California, Berkeley, & Professor, UC Berkeley School of Information and Department of Economics Günter Waibel Associate Vice Provost & Executive Director, California Digital Library Mathe...

As a leader in the global movement toward open access to publicly funded research, the University of California is taking a firm stand by deciding not to renew its subscriptions with Elsevier. Despite months of contract negotiations, Elsevier was unwilling to meet UC’s key goal: securing universal open access to UC research while containing the rapidly escalating costs associated with for-profit journals.

University of California System is playing hardball with Elsevier in negotiations that could transform the way it pays to read and publish research. But does the UC system have the clout to pull it