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Elsevier
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Advancing open access to knowledge

Open access is a key part of our mission to help researchers advance science for societal progress.

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Open access at Elsevier

Open access is vital to a collaborative, inclusive and transparent world of research where quality knowledge can be shared and built upon. Every day, we work to bring more insight into closer reach for the research community and the public. We offer a wide choice and flexibility for every researcher and institution around the world that wants to publish open access, without ever compromising on research quality, integrity and value.

Advancing open access

Elsevier’s Laura Hassink and Stuart Whayman talk about the growth of open access and what the future holds for researchers, librarians and publishers

Photo of Elsevier's Stuart Whayman, Managing Direct, Researchers & Librarians, and Laura Hassink, Managing Director, Journals

Enabling a transition to open access

As one of the largest open access publishers in the world we are enabling a transition to open access at scale. Nearly all our 2,900 journals enable open access publishing and more than 800 of these are fully open access. In 2023 we published more than 190,000 open access articles.

Our world-leading research platforms make available 3.3 million validated open access articles and we support more than 2000 institutions with open access agreements.

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Delivering high quality research

Each year, we receive around 3 million research papers from authors. Whether published open access or via subscription model, they are all rigorously reviewed by our in-house editorial teams in collaboration with 33,000 editors and 1.5 million expert reviewers around the world.

The result is over 630,000 articles in 2023 enhanced, indexed, certified, published and promoted following peer review. These processes and the assistance provided to authors along the way ensure the integrity and reliability of research and of the scientific record. Articles in Elsevier journals account for over 17% of the global research output and 28% of global citations, reinforcing our focus on quality.

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Supporting every researcher and institution

We offer a broad range of choices to support every researcher and institution in accessing and publishing research. In 2023 we supported more than half a million researchers in 190 countries and territories to publish open access.

Alongside our commitment to pricing article publishing charges below market average relative to comparable quality, we have initiatives to support researchers in low- and middle-income countries. In 2023, we waived or discounted costs for nearly 80% of authors from the Global South and introduced the industry-first Geographical Pricing for Open Access initiative. This considers local economic circumstances to help researchers publish research open access.

Building open access sustainability with transformative agreements

In a series of three case studies, library leaders share their insights into the transformative agreement process. Librarians guide readers through setting goals and communicating to stakeholders, working with publishers, and implementing the agreement across their institutions.

Learn more about transformative agreements that drive cross-campus collaboration, support researchers, and sustainably expand open access.

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How we are advancing open access

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Open Science 

Open access is just one element of the way we partner with you to drive open science. Together we can create a more inclusive, collaborative and transparent world of research.

Unlocking the potential of data

We're working to help researchers and institutions store, share, discover and effectively reuse data. Effective data sharing can improve the impact, validity, reproducibility, efficiency and transparency of scientific research.

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Promoting research integrity

We are committed to promoting the integrity of research through a range of activities and initiatives from free author training on publication ethics and providing transparency in author contributor roles

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Free access initiatives

From researchers and students using content published in our books and journals on a daily basis to a patient who needs critical information about their treatment, Elsevier has a range of access options to ensure that everyone can access the important information they need.

Frequently asked questions

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