What Should We Make of Secret Open Access Deals?

While the UK and the Netherlands have led the charge toward Gold open access (OA) publication for scholarly research, both nations have been confronted with the economic realities and increased costs brought on by their progressive policies. Through various agencies and libraries, each has reached out to publishers in hopes of finding some help in offsetting those significant additional costs, including last week’s announcement of a deal between the Netherlands and Wiley. Unfortunately, that arrangement, like nearly every other such deal, appears to have been done under terms that forbid disclosure of the specifics involved. This lack of transparency makes it impossible to understand who benefits from such deals and prevents progress, as no new models are available for others to follow.