De Gruyter opens up portfolio to Dutch scholars

The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) and the academic publisher De Gruyter have signed an agreement that provides for the publication of an unlimited number of open access articles in De Gruyter's hybrid journals. The portfolio available to Dutch scholars consists of 370 peer-reviewed journals.

The agreement covers the period from 2016 to 2018, and enables all academics that belong to an associated university to release open access publications through De Gruyter. As part of the agreement, the usual article processing charge (APC) paid up front by authors is waived. This will apply only in cases where the institution has an active subscription for the journal to which the author submits an article for peer review and publication.

'With this agreement, De Gruyter is furthering the policy of the Dutch government, which has prioritised open access for the country's universities,' said Carsten Buhr, managing director of De Gruyter. 'This is an important milestone for our company, and it will make a visible contribution to the growth of open access publications in the Netherlands.'

According to the terms of the license agreement, the deducted article processing charges will be reconciled with the annual subscription renewal cost for the following year.