Negotiations on agreement with Oxford University Press suspended

The suspension of negotiations means that universities and other institutions in the National Licensing Consortium will not be provided with access to the publisher's databases, dictionaries or research articles published in 2026.

Access to research articles published before 2026 will continue. Royal Danish Library and the other university and research libraries in the National Licensing Consortium will be able to assist users in obtaining alternative access to journal articles published in 2026 and other publications. However, it will not be possible to obtain electronic access to Oxford's dictionaries and other books.

Unacceptable price increases

This is the first time Royal Danish Library, acting on behalf of the National Licensing Consortium, has suspended negotiations on a national licence agreement for electronic access to scientific literature. Based on a clear mandate from Danish Universities, Royal Danish Library made it clear that price increases would not be accepted and that any new agreement must provide better conditions for Open Access publishing of Danish research.

Negotiations between Royal Danish Library and Oxford University Press have been ongoing for 18 months. Throughout this period, it has not been possible to persuade Oxford University Press to meet the requirements of the Danish negotiating mandate or to agree on a transparent and fair licensing model for all institutions in the National Licensing Consortium.

The decision by Danish Universities and Royal Danish Library to suspend negotiations was prompted by unacceptable price increases that created financial uncertainty, together with an Open Access publishing model that was unequal, unnecessarily complex and unsuitable for researchers wishing to publish their work as Open Access.

Willingness to resume negotiations

In recent years, Royal Danish Library has successfully concluded national agreements with major academic publishers that meet the requirements of the Danish negotiating mandate. It is therefore regrettable that it has not been possible to reach an agreement with Oxford University Press. Royal Danish Library remains willing to resume negotiations if the publisher is prepared to accommodate the Danish mandate and negotiate a fairer agreement.

The previous agreement with Oxford University Press accounted for approximately 2 per cent of Denmark's total expenditure on national licence agreements for electronic access to scientific literature.