SANLiC and Taylor & Francis announce agreement

Researchers in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia will be supported to publish open access (OA) articles in over 2,100 journals through a three-year agreement reached by the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) and Taylor & Francis. Researchers will also benefit from extended journal access and a new publishing training program, added the publisher.

The transformative agreement,Taylor & Francis says its first in sub-Saharan Africa, enables corresponding authors at participating institutions to choose OA in all Taylor & Francis and Routledge Open Select (hybrid) journals, including UNISA Press and NISC co-published titles. In addition, researchers choosing to publish in full OA journals can do so at reduced cost, with their institution’s support.

The agreement aims to cover OA publishing charges for all eligible articles, helping every researcher to maximize the impact of their work by choosing OA. Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s leading publishers of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) journals, so the agreement is expected to be of help to HSS researchers, who typically have limited funding for OA publishing.

In addition, the publisher says the read & publish agreement gives faculty and students at participating institutions access to read more than 1,900 journals in both HSS and Science and Technology.

Taylor & Francis says its team will also deliver an editorial-led program of training and resources for researchers in the region to support better understanding of publishing and open research best practice.

Ellen Tise, chairperson of the SANLiC board of directors said: “This deal has enabled South Africa to repurpose read-only subscription expenditure to finance the right for our authors from participating institutions to publish full and immediate open access in all Taylor & Francis Open Select (hybrid) journals while retaining their copyright and without paying any fee. When added to our 13 other such agreements, over 80% of South African research traditionally published behind a paywall now has the potential to be published fully open access without additional fees.”

Nitasha Devasar, vice president & commercial lead India, South Asia & Africa at Taylor & Francis, added: “We are delighted to announce our first read and publish agreement in sub-Saharan Africa. At the heart of this partnership lies a commitment to championing diversity and equity in scholarly communication, particularly amplifying the voices and contributions from the Global South. The partnership enables affiliated researchers from South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia to access an extensive range of journals and empowers them to publish their work in an open-access format for global reach, visibility, and impact.”

Dr Phethiwe Matutu, CEO for Universities in South Africa (USAf), said: “It is indeed the most welcome news that SANLiC and Taylor & Francis managed to clinch this three-year agreement. USAf regards the agreement as cushioning our universities from the harsh reality of reduced state subsidies that provide a lifeblood to the daily operations of universities including library resources. USAf appreciates that the two entities prioritize the advancement of open and high-quality learning in our universities.”