Huge news from MIT Libraries:
Standing by its commitment to provide equitable and open access to scholarship, MIT has ended negotiations with Elsevier for a new journals contract.
MIT cited its unique Framework for Publisher Contracts in the decision to cancel Elsevier. The Libraries director, Chris Bourg, did not mince words in the Institute’s press release:
I am disappointed that we were not able to reach a contract with Elsevier that honors the principles of the MIT Framework, but I am proud knowing that the MIT community — as well as hundreds of colleagues across the country — stand by the importance of these principles for advancing the public good and the progress of science.
The muscular cancellation is a piece with MIT’s leadership on OA issues, not least with its library’s cross-campus peer, MIT Press.