Wiley renews open access agreement with Big Ten Academic Alliance
Wiley has renewed its open access publishing agreement with the Big Ten Academic Alliance, extending support for researchers at participating institutions through to 31 December 2027.
The agreement enables corresponding authors at 16 flagship BTAA universities and 19 affiliated campuses across 11 US states to publish open access articles in Wiley journals, while also providing participating institutions with full read access to the publisher’s journal portfolio.
Eligible researchers will be able to publish open access in Wiley’s hybrid journals for articles accepted through 2027, with a separate allocation also available for articles accepted in the publisher’s gold open access journals.
The BTAA, one of the largest higher education consortia in the United States, and Wiley first launched a collective open access publishing agreement in 2022. According to the organisations, the partnership has since supported the publication of thousands of open access articles across member institutions.
They report that the agreement has contributed to a 235% year-on-year increase in open access publications, rising from fewer than 900 articles to more than 3,000 during its first year. The organisations also state that 93% of BTAA research output is now published open access, compared with 28% before the agreement, while eligible researchers have avoided an estimated $41.1 million in article processing charges (APCs). Usage of the published research in developing nations has also grown at a compound annual rate of 74%, according to the partners.
“By continuing to work closely with the Big Ten Academic Alliance, we’re ensuring that researchers at some of the world’s most productive universities have straightforward pathways to publish their work openly – lowering barriers and amplifying the real-world impact of their discoveries,” said Kathryn Sharples, Wiley VP, Publishing Strategy & Policy.
“Our member universities are home to some of the world’s leading researchers, and BTAA contributes to knowledge advancement through publishing routes made possible by this agreement,” said Kate McCready, Program Director for Open Publishing, BTAA. “This agreement removes barriers for authors while supporting our collective goal of making high-quality research more openly available to scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and communities around the world.”