How are transformative agreements transforming libraries?

Abstract

It was the library community, united in OA2020 and ESAC, that first defined Transformative Agreements (TAs) in 2018, and which, today, drives their continued evolution, compelling publishers to depart from the status quo of subscriptions. First adopted in Europe, the wave of TAs has now reached libraries in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia. With more than half a million new research articles published openly through TAs negotiated by institutions in 67 countries to date, there can be no doubt that TAs increase global access to research.

Beyond demonstrating the evidence of growing open access content thanks to TAs, the paper will illustrate how these agreements are transforming libraries in how they interact with publishers, researchers and their institution’s leadership. Through key “transformation drivers”, characteristic of TAs, libraries, globally, are advancing toward a fully open paradigm in scholarly communication while expanding and securing their own role in a post-transformation ecosystem.