The Springer publishing group and Dutch universities have agreed a full 100% open access deal for 2016. Springer took the initiative in late 2014 by concluding a 100% open access contract with Dutch universities. It was a major success.

In the 2015 and 2016 contract period, Springer’s list of Dutch publications rose from 1,500 in 2014 to 2,130 in 2016. Now a new agreement has been reached, which comes into effect on 1 January 2016 and runs for one year. For researchers nothing changes this year and authors can be certain of reaching a wide audience through freely available publications.

Negotiations
VSNU is negotiating subscription fees with the various academic publishers. These are the so-called Big Deal negotiations. Universities are only prepared to renew current subscription agreements if publishers take steps towards making open access available. Significant steps towards open access have been achieved through agreements with large and smaller international publishers.

Open access improves availability of academic knowledge
Dutch universities and the Dutch government strongly support open access to academic publications. Open access publications are easier to find, more frequently cited and reach a larger audience. This benefits the academic community, society and the economy at large.