UK universities face another stand-off with a major academic publisher after rejecting a proposal that would have seen them pay nearly £1 million extra annually to read and publish in Nature journals.
With the UK sector keen to make “significant savings” as several big publisher deals expire this year, the content group acting on behalf of Universities UK (UUK) has rejected a read-and-publish proposal for 35 Nature-branded journals “due to cost”, according to an internal email seen by Times Higher Education.
The proposal would require subscribers to pay Springer Nature an extra £940,000 on top of 2022 subscription fees – a 19 per cent increase – while still requiring a separate agreement for Nature Review and Palgrave-branded titles.
