MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts yields new open-access model
The MIT Libraries has negotiated an innovative open-access agreement with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) that allows MIT authors to make ACM articles freely available at no cost to them. It is the libraries’ first publisher contract completed under the principles for open scholarship in the MIT Framework for Publisher Contracts, released in October 2019, and the agreement aligns with all elements in the framework. The libraries negotiations team developed the agreement in collaboration with colleagues at the University of California, Carnegie Mellon University, and Iowa State University, who each signed a three-year contract with ACM for an open-access pilot. “This is a great example of scholarly societies and research libraries working together on an equitable and sustainable model that supports open science and the important work of societies,” says Chris Bourg, director of MIT Libraries. This first agreement under the MIT framework meets its goals, including protecting scholars’ and their...