[open-science] Finnish subscriptions for acad. journals may expire soon - call for action

Tue Nov 22 10:50:49 UTC 2016

Call to action

Finnish research libraries and major international publishers are
negotiating subscription fees for academic journals for the coming year
2017. The sums of money under discussion are significant: 27 million euros
during the year 2015, to give an example. While the funding for Finnish
research is being cut, the cost of subscriptions continues to rocket at the
rate of 5 to 10 percent yearly.

The research libraries are demanding more reasonable prices and openness.
Some of the publishers, especially Elsevier, are reluctant to concede. If
the situation continues as it is, subscriptions will expire and access to
research literature will be severely limited beginning next year.

We, a group of researchers acting independently, wish to organize a show of
support from the research community to the Finnish negotiators. If an
agreement between the parties is not reached, in order to underline the
importance of the issue, we are prepared to withdraw from and decline
review and editor roles that would benefit the publishers that fail to
reach an agreement with the libraries.

We have drafted a public statement addressing the situation, with the hope
of having as many members of the research community as possible signing it
with us. During the weekend the statement has already been signed by tens
of esteemed researchers, among them Academy Professors and Academics of
Science.

If you wish to participate, please sign the statement at
http://tiedonhinta.fi and pass it on to colleagues. When you sign, you can
choose whether to take part in the boycott or not. The authenticity of the
signature will be confirmed via e-mail.

The content of the statement has been formulated independently, but in
dialogue with the research libraries FinElib consortium.

Authors of the statement:

Heidi Laine; Doctoral Student, University of Helsinki (main contact at
heidi.laine at helsinki.fi)

Konsta Happonen; Research Assistant, University of Oulu

Leo Lahti; Docent, University of Turku

Joona Lehtomäki; Postdoctoral researcher, VU Amsterdam

Jessica Parland-von Essen, Docent, University of Helsinki

Tuuli Toivonen; Tenure track professor, University of Helsinki

Mikko Tolonen; Professor, University of Helsinki
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