Disruptions to Elsevier academic journal access in 2026

Kia ora koutou,

In recent months, all New Zealand and Australian universities have been working together to negotiate a better deal with the four largest global academic publishers.

Together, licensing agreements with Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis make up about $30 million in spending annually by New Zealand’s eight universities. That figure doesn’t include the unpaid cost of our researchers serving on editorial boards, writing and peer-reviewing content.

Australian and New Zealand universities have been negotiating since July to obtain new agreements that are more sustainable, transparent and equitable, and which deliver better value for public investment in research.

Key priorities for the negotiations included addressing opaque legacy pricing models and sector-wide inequities, as well as the increasingly unsustainable costs associated with fees for Open Access publishing, and providing greater certainty for authors through better publishing agreements.

Today we write to confirm that negotiations are progressing well with three of the four publishers. A new, landmark, fully uncapped Open Access agreement with Taylor & Francis has been agreed. A positive announcement about a Wiley Open Access publishing agreement is expected in coming weeks. And negotiations with Springer-Nature are continuing.

However, this week the final offer presented by Elsevier made within the negotiating time frame was rejected by the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL). CAUL remains open to re-engaging with Elsevier, but this means there will be no CAUL contract in place for commencement in 2026, which will affect both read and publish access to ScienceDirect academic journals.

We are deeply disappointed by the position taken by Elsevier.

Cost is part of the issue. The payment to Elsevier is likely one of the largest signed by each Vice-Chancellor to any commercial entity annually. The bill for Elsevier makes up about half of the annual cost of all four of these major publishers.

However, other crucial factors include securing fair access, improving transparency, and supporting a healthy publishing ecosystem that works for Australia and New Zealand. These matters are being reflected in negotiations with the other publishers.  

What this means

When the CAUL Elsevier journal agreement expires on December 31, 2025, Australasian universities will temporarily lose some degree of access to Elsevier’s 1,659 journals until a replacement contract is negotiated either by CAUL or individual institutions.

Negotiations will possibly take months. In similar overseas experiences, negotiations have taken six to 18 months.

Loss of access to these journals will have varying levels of impact on researchers and students in 2026.

Each university library is making contingency arrangements for their staff and students. The specific impact at each of our universities will vary depending on the conditions of the existing contract.

We acknowledge that this will likely create some disruption and uncertainty, and will impact our university communities. However, we believe this is an opportunity to continue to advocate for new models that align more closely with the needs of our sector and the public who fund and benefit from our work.

Ngā mihi nui,

Professor Grant Edwards, UNZ chair, Vice-Chancellor Lincoln University
Professor Neil Quigley, UNZ deputy chair, Vice-Chancellor University of Waikato
Professor Dawn Freshwater, UNZ Research Committee chair, Vice-Chancellor University of Auckland
Professor Cheryl de la Rey, UNZ Education Committee chair, Vice-Chancellor University of Canterbury
Professor Damon Salesa, UNZ International Committee chair, Vice-Chancellor AUT
Professor Nic Smith, Vice-Chancellor Victoria University of Wellington
Professor Jan Thomas, Vice-Chancellor Massey University
Mr Grant Robertson, Vice-Chancellor University of Otago

Why are these negotiations taking place now?

The contracts of all four publishers with all universities in Australia and New Zealand are expiring at the same time. This opened an opportunity to negotiate collectively and secure better, fairer and more equitable agreements than would otherwise be available.

Who has been doing the negotiations?

The cross-Tasman initiative is overseen by a senior academic advisory group, comprising university leaders and university librarians from both countries under the banner of the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL). CAUL is responsible for procuring most major publisher agreements on behalf of Australia and New Zealand. The advisory group has been working diligently to ensure any new agreements reflect the changing needs of researchers and institutions alike.

Is it Open Access or cost reduction we are seeking?

Both. For some time, universities have been looking for smarter, more sustainable ways to support Open Access. Negotiating together on these contracts gives our universities the best opportunity to secure a fairer deal for researchers and better value for public investment. At the same time, in a constrained financial environment, the current prices of academic publishing are not sustainable.

What were the key priorities for negotiations?

To deliver improved value for Australasian universities, ensuring they pay a fair and transparent price for the services provided. This includes: addressing opaque legacy pricing models and sector-wide inequities; addressing the increasingly unsustainable costs related to additional fees for Open Access publishing; and providing greater certainty for authors through better publishing agreements.

What is Open Access?

For several years, universities have collectively worked to make more publicly-funded research freely available to the public. The ‘Open Access’ ambition is part of our broader strategic shift to ‘Open Research’ which encompasses Open Access.

More detail is available in Universities New Zealand’s Open Research Statement [PDF, 155KB]

What are the issues with the current licences?

• Publicly funded research published by academic publishers has ended up behind paywalls – only accessible to those with subscriptions or licences. The only way for an author or university to make articles more widely available through an Open Access (free pathway) has been to pay an additional fee per article to the publisher.
• There is significant variation in the amount paid by individual universities to these publishers depending on their previously negotiated agreements. There is also very little transparency in pricing.
• Licences have tended to be take it or leave it type agreements with few or no options for tailoring the details to meet a university’s specific requirements.
• The current global academic publishing system is based on legacy pricing, from a time when academic journals were printed rather than available online. Academic publishers are able to charge high prices, yet most of the content comes from academics who are not paid by the publisher for their research, writing or reviewing. 

Can individual universities negotiate directly?

The pause in negotiations signals CAUL's commitment to ensuring that the agreements it negotiates represent appropriate value and align with the evolving needs of the research community. CAUL has reiterated to member institutions that they maintain full independence in their commercial decisions and may choose to enter into individual negotiations with Elsevier in the absence of a CAUL negotiated agreement.

Does this affect other Elsevier products?

No. These negotiations only relate to Elsevier journal content on the Science Direct platform. The CAUL Consortium maintains agreements with Elsevier for other products (eg. Scopus, Scival) and many member institutions will subscribe to a range of other Elsevier content.