Big Presses in the Open Movement

Abstract

Elsevier is currently positioned as the largest scholarly publisher, a dominant force in open access publishing, and a provider of workflow and analytics tools for research and science. Now it is slated to serve as the sole subcontractor in the European Commission's Open Science Monitor, cementing its role as a leading data analytics provider in the industry. This dominance across multiple sectors is bringing increased scrutiny from researchers and advocates for open science and open access to research. With loud objections to Elsevier's role in the Open Science Monitor project and contentious license negotiations as Germany and Sweden attempt to combine their big deals with open access publishing services, the role of traditional publishers in new models of scholarly communication and research support is being questioned more than ever.