We are pleased to announce that the DEAL Elsevier agreement, which has been in place since 1 September 2023, is now officially in force. The required level of participation has not only been achieved, but exceeded expectations.

The institutions that have joined the participation process, which started at the end of September and ends today (15 January 2024), cover more than 90% of the total number of German publications in Elsevier journals in 2022. Originally, a 70% quota had been agreed as a condition for the contract to enter into force. As a result of the impressive 90% participation rate, another contractual agreement will now come into effect: a 2% reduction in the agreed Publish-And-Read Fee. This means that the fee for the first year of the contract will be €2,500 instead of €2,550.

Nearly all of Germany's major universities and research institutions are now participating. Researchers at these institutions can now publish their work as standard open access with Elsevier, with the costs covered by the DEAL agreement. In addition, nearly 400 institutions now have full-text access to almost the entire Elsevier portfolio, after many years without reading access.

Institutions that have not yet signed up can do so at any time during the five-year contract. For more information, please visit this page and contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request participation documents for your institution (please note that documents sent by MPDLS in 2023 will no longer be valid).