2021 License Renewal Results
The Content Strategy Committee (CSC) and the CRKN Licensing Team are pleased to present the results of the 2021 license renewals. A total of eleven Phase I licenses and four Phase II licenses were renewed in 2021.
Below are summaries of the negotiation results for 2021. Members can also log in to access a table that outlines the outcome of the license renewal negotiations for each license (at the bottom of this page).
Phase I Licenses
The following Phase I licenses were renewed in 2021: American Chemical Society, Cambridge University Press, Canadian Science Publishing, Clarivate, De Gruyter, Elsevier Scopus, Institute of Physics, Oxford University Press, Royal Society of Chemistry, Springer Nature, and Taylor & Francis. The objectives for the Phase I license renewals were to reduce and contain costs and, when possible, negotiate options for open access.
Open Access Agreements
The CSC identified Cambridge University Press and Canadian Science Publishing as candidates for an open access agreement in 2021. This objective was achieved for Cambridge University Press through a cost-neutral unlimited read and publish open access agreement with full read access.
An open access agreement was not achieved with Canadian Science Publishing (CSP). Due to a number of factors, primarily the significant difference between the current cost of the CRKN agreement and the cost estimated by CSP to provide unlimited open access publishing, it was determined that more time is required to develop a sustainable open access that is aligned with our Licensing Principles.
A cost-neutral open access agreement with unlimited publishing was also reached with Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). Although the Institute of Physics license was not initially identified as a candidate for such an agreement, the CSC pursued the open access agreement option once favourable terms had been negotiated in alignment with CRKN’s open access principles.
Cost Containment
The CSC achieved a cost reduction with Taylor & Francis for the first year of the agreement. Additionally, the CSC achieved historically low increases with Springer Nature, Elsevier Scopus, and American Chemical Society. The TONS fee (for takeover and new start titles) was also eliminated in the Springer Nature license, and the price for the Legacy Archive lease from American Chemical Society will be maintained at the 2021 price for the duration of the agreement.
Further cost containment was achieved with Clarivate, Oxford University Press, and Royal Society of Chemistry.
Phase II Licenses
The following Phase II licenses were renewed in 2021: American Mathematical Society, ProQuest Alexander Street Press (Various Databases), ProQuest Historical Newspapers, and ProQuest House of Commons Parliamentary Papers.
The objectives for the Phase II license renewals focused on cost containment and eliminating or redistributing hosting fees. These objectives were all achieved for the ProQuest licenses. The cost increase for American Mathematical Society, however, could not be held to 2% due to a standard 3% global price increase set by their Board. The CSC were successful in pushing back on this global increase and negotiated a minor adjustment for CRKN members.
On behalf of the licensing team at CRKN and the CSC, we wish to thank CRKN members for their support and engagement through the 2021 license renewal process. We will be sharing more details on our licensing strategy and approach for 2022 in the coming weeks, and we look forward to engaging with you throughout the year.
If you have any questions about the 2021 renewal results, please contact Craig Olsvik, Senior Manager, Licensing and Member Services, at colsvik@crkn.ca.