The current Jisc Collections Elsevier ScienceDirect Journal agreement, which commenced in 2017 and will end on 31 December 2021, is the UK’s largest subscription agreement. In 2020, Elsevier received £41.95m in contractual subscription fees from subscribers to read content published in 1,808 subscription journals. Outside of the Jisc agreement, Elsevier also receives payments for articles to be published immediately open access in hybrid journals direct from researchers via institutions, and from research funders via institutions - in 2019 this was c£7.24m.

The agreement will help individual SCONUL members in the UK to use Unsub, a data analysis and dashboard tool that enables libraries and consortia to independently assess the value of the journal subscriptions they hold with publishers. 

After a months’ long negotiation process that included extensive input from faculty, staff, and students, Purdue University and its regional campuses have now finalized a one-year contract with academic publisher Elsevier. At a cost of $1.86 million, the new deal reduces Purdue’s total spend with Elsevier by close to $1.5 million. Purdue deemed the new title-by-title contract necessary after years of increased subscription fees.