University of California Libraries & Springer Sign Pilot Agreement for Open Access Journal Publishing

["Jacqueline Wilson" <Jacqueline.Wilson@ucop.edu>]

January 21, 2009
Oakland, California

For more information, contact:

Ivy Anderson
Director of Collections
California Digital Library
University of California
Ivy.anderson@ucop.edu

Eric Merkel-Sobotta
EVP, Corporate Communications
Springer Science+Business Media
ems@springer.com

The University of California Libraries and Springer 
Science+Business Media (Springer) have concluded a 
ground-breaking experimental agreement to support open access 
publishing by UC authors.  The arrangement is part of the 
journals license negotiated by the California Digital Library on 
behalf of the ten campuses of the University of California.

Under the terms of the agreement, articles by UC-affiliated 
authors accepted for publication in a Springer journal beginning 
in 2009 will be published using Springer Open Choice with full 
and immediate open access.  There will be no separate per-article 
charges, since costs have been factored into the overall license. 
Articles will be released under a license compatible with the 
Creative Commons (by-nc: Attribution, Non-commercial) license. 
In addition to access via the Springer platform, final published 
articles will also be deposited in the California Digital 
Library's eScholarship Repository.

The University of California-Springer agreement is the first 
large-scale open access experiment of its type undertaken with a 
major commercial publisher in North America.

"UC faculty have told us that they want open access publishing 
options in order to increase the impact of their published work 
and eliminate barriers to educational and research use," said Ivy 
Anderson, Director of Collections for the California Digital 
Library, which licenses content on behalf of the University of 
California libraries.  "Just as importantly, they want these 
options in the journals in which they routinely publish, without 
disrupting their normal research activity. The CDL agreement with 
Springer supports the transformation that our faculty seeks, 
while continuing the libraries' crucial role in facilitating 
access to research information.  Springer is a leader among 
commercial publishers in open access experimentation, making it a 
natural partner for the University of California in this 
endeavor."

Peter Hendriks, President Global Publishing and Marketing at 
Springer said:  "This first experiment in the USA is of great 
importance to us since it adds to our expertise on the effects of 
open access publishing on usage, citations and impact factors. 
Furthermore, the agreement allows us to continue our cooperation 
and close partnership with one of the most respected university 
systems in the United States."

Adds Richard Schneider, Assistant Professor in the Department of 
Orthopedic Surgery and Director, Parnassus Molecular & Cell 
Biology Lab at the University of California, San Francisco: "Open 
access will support faculty aspirations for new modes of journal 
publishing that facilitate the broad dissemination of ideas and 
improve public access to taxpayer-funded research. This is a 
critical time as new models for scholarly communications emerge, 
and I am excited that the UC Libraries are at the forefront and 
are playing a key leadership role."

About the University of California Libraries

More than 100 libraries on the 10 University of California 
campuses support the University's research, learning, patient 
care, and public service missions. Collectively, they make up the 
largest research/academic library in the world, and, with the 
California Digital Library, have taken a leadership role 
harnessing technology in support of new and innovative forms of 
scholarly communication. For more information, visit 
http://libraries.universityofcalifornia.edu/

About Springer

Springer (www.springer.com) is the second-largest publisher of 
journals in the science, technology, and medicine (STM) sector 
and the largest publisher of STM books.  It publishes on behalf 
of more than 300 academic associations and professional 
societies.  Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media, 
one of the world's leading suppliers of scientific and specialist 
literature.  The group publishes over 1,700 journals and more 
than 5,500 new books a year, as well as the largest STM eBook 
Collection worldwide.  Springer has operations in over 20 
countries in Europe, the USA, and Asia, and some 5,000 employees.

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