In the last two weeks, over 1,600 individuals and organizations from 52 countries around the world have signed a statement opposing Elsevier’s new article sharing and hosting policy, underscoring that many in the scholarly community do not support the new policy.
The policy imposes unacceptably long embargo periods for making articles available, the vast majority of which range from 12 months to 4 years after publication. It also requires researchers to apply licenses that restrict the full re-use of articles.
Research funders from around the world are adopting policies that ensure fast access, use and impact of research outputs. Most of these funders’ require open access to articles within 12 months of publication or less. Elsevier’s policy is in direct opposition to the trend towards encouraging greater access to and impact of research results.
Since the statement was published on May 20, 2015, public support has continued to grow, demonstrating the deep, global support for open access to research outputs .
COAR and SPARC renew our call for Elsevier to revise their policy in order to better align it with the interests of the research community and broader society.
