The Division of Library Services has been working with the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) on subscription reviews for major publishers.

As part of that review, it was determined that Elsevier’s pricing significantly exceeds comparable publishers across all key metrics.

Due to escalating costs, a persistent lack of transparency in pricing models, and an unwillingness to negotiate revised terms, the ScienceDirect subscription can no longer be justified and will be discontinued.

From 1 January 2026, we will not have subscription access to new Elsevier content. 

However, we have multiple mechanisms in place to support continued access to research materials:

1. Over 30% of recent Elsevier content is already openly available
2. Post-termination access rights provide continued access to a portion of content published before 2026 
3. Resource Sharing services (such as InterLibrary Loans) with other institutions may also be available 
4. Browser tools such as LibKey Nomad or Unpaywall can seamlessly connect users to alternative sources where available
5. Previously, the Elsevier’s Read & Publish agreement covered APCs, moving forward, authors will need to pay APCs to publish open access in hybrid or gold OA journals

Although our subscription to ScienceDirect will end, we will retain access to a portion of the content we previously subscribed to. The exact coverage dates for each journal will be shown in Primo Search when you search, ensuring accurate information at the point of discovery.

For a complete list of journals and their coverage periods, please refer to the detailed list provided below.

• Over 30% of Elsevier’s most recent content is already available openly and can be found via Primo search
• Post-termination access rights provide continued access to a portion of content published before 2026 
• Browser plugins such as Libkey Nomad or Unpaywall can seamlessly connect users to articles available through other platforms or freely available versions at no additional cost
• Individual articles may be requested via Inter-library loan

Academics can still choose to publish with Elsevier, however this will mean that articles will need to be published via traditional ‘closed access’ route. For academics wishing to publish open access, the following options are available:

• Authors can choose to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) to publish open access in a hybrid journal or Gold open access journal.
• For articles published ‘closed’ with Elsevier, the Author Accepted Manuscript can be deposited into CRO
• Authors can also consider alternative publishers that have CAUL OA Agreements
• Diamond OA journals that are free to publish and read can be found via the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• Researchers might elect to allocate projects funds for open access publishing or apply for one of the Tri-Faculty Research funding schemes