Elsevier has restored access to its journals for dozens of German universities and research institutions that cancelled their subscriptions at the end of 2016, despite the fact that ongoing nationwide licence negotiations between the Dutch publisher and the DEAL consortium have not yet been concluded.
About 60 institutions decided not to renew their subscriptions to Elsevier journals at the end of last year, with the expectation that the DEAL consortium would negotiate the contract with the publisher. However discussions broke down over issues of cost and open access arrangements with the result that since the start of the year, thousands of German scientists have lost access to Elsevier journals.
In a statement, Elsevier said that "continuing access for the affected institutions will be in place while good-faith discussions about a nationwide contract carry on. This reflects our support for German research and our expectation that an agreement can be reached."