Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rothfritz, Laura, Schmal, W. Benedikt, Herb, Ulrich
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.20224
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914960687235072
author Rothfritz, Laura
Schmal, W. Benedikt
Herb, Ulrich
author_facet Rothfritz, Laura
Schmal, W. Benedikt
Herb, Ulrich
contents Transformative agreements between academic publishers and research institutions are ubiquitous. The 'Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges' (ESAC) Initiative lists more than 1,000 contracts in its database. We make use of this unique dataset by web-scraping the details of every contract to substantially expand the overview spreadsheet provided by the ESAC Initiative. Based on that hitherto unused data source, we combine qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct an in-depth analysis of the contract characteristics and the TA landscape. Our analysis demonstrates that research institutions seem to be 'trapped' in transformative agreements. Instead of being a bridge towards a fully Open Access world, academia is stuck in the hybrid system. This endows the legacy (non-Open Access) publishing houses with substantial market power. It raises entry barriers, lowers competition, and increases costs for libraries and universities.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_20224
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Trapped in Transformative Agreements? A Multifaceted Analysis of >1,000 Contracts
Rothfritz, Laura
Schmal, W. Benedikt
Herb, Ulrich
Digital Libraries
Transformative agreements between academic publishers and research institutions are ubiquitous. The 'Efficiency and Standards for Article Charges' (ESAC) Initiative lists more than 1,000 contracts in its database. We make use of this unique dataset by web-scraping the details of every contract to substantially expand the overview spreadsheet provided by the ESAC Initiative. Based on that hitherto unused data source, we combine qualitative and quantitative methods to conduct an in-depth analysis of the contract characteristics and the TA landscape. Our analysis demonstrates that research institutions seem to be 'trapped' in transformative agreements. Instead of being a bridge towards a fully Open Access world, academia is stuck in the hybrid system. This endows the legacy (non-Open Access) publishing houses with substantial market power. It raises entry barriers, lowers competition, and increases costs for libraries and universities.
title Trapped in Transformative Agreements? A Multifaceted Analysis of >1,000 Contracts
topic Digital Libraries
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.20224