Researchers from 452 institutions across the country will have free access to Elsevier and Springer Nature journals from 2026. They will be able to either read the journals of the two publishers, which are among the leading in the world, or submit scientific articles in a hybrid or open access format for publication. The same goes for those of the ACM (Association for Computer Machinery), but starting this month.
The measure is provided for in transformative agreements (TA) signed by Capes (Coordination for the Development of Higher Education Personnel), an organization linked to the MEC (Ministry of Education) with the three publishers. The terms were signed on the 4th during a ceremony celebrating 25 years of the Capes Periodicals Portal.
The agreements with Elsevier, the largest scientific publisher in the world, and Springer Nature, which publishes the Nature group’s journals, come into force on January 1, 2026 and extend over three years. That of the ACM is already in force. Together, they total 215 million US dollars (1 billion reais).
Currently, Brazilians who want to have their scientific articles in “open access” journals from Elsevier and Springer Nature, that is, in journals that other people can download and read for free, must bear what are called APCs (article processing costs). These range from a few hundred dollars to almost US$13,000 (R$70,000), in the case of a publication in the Nature portfolio.
The amounts, according to the publishers, cover expenses related to writing and formatting the articles. The scientific review and editing process is carried out by visiting scholars who are not paid for it.
The cost for Capes will be 153 million US dollars (823.6 million reais) with Elsevier, 59.8 million US dollars (322 million reais) with Springer Nature and 2.4 million US dollars (13.2 million reais) with ACM — the values take into account the listing of October 23 and 30, in the case of the first two, and August 7 for ACM.
In the case of Springer Nature, the agreement concerns journals with a hybrid model, that is to say limited to reading by subscription or in the process of becoming open access. The contract, according to the publisher, will allow free access and publication of more than 6,000 articles per year.
Elsevier, for its part, offers around 8,000 open access articles accessible to Brazilian researchers. The free publication will be valid for approximately 160 of the publisher’s magazines.
The term established with the ACM allows publication and open access to all journals published by it.
Springer Nature said Leaf which seeks to provide “equal access to content and publication” and that the benefits of the agreement with the Brazilian body include “the possibility of better supporting Brazilian researchers affiliated (with participating institutions) in realizing these benefits”.
When contacted, Elsevier said, through a spokesperson, “that it is happy to support the publication of open access research in Brazil” and that “more than 1,800 journals are included in the agreement, the contract of which is for a period of three years, from 2026 to 2028.”
The agreements will be valid for higher education and research establishments that are part of the Capes Periodicals Portal (a total of 452). This service pays publishers each year for reading access to university scientific journals. With these agreements, it is planned to encourage publication in these journals, by reducing the amounts that were previously paid annually (a first amount for publication in the journals and a second for access to reading).
According to a note from Capes sent to the report, “the transformative agreements have increased the number of publications at certain publishers and, thus, there is an increase in the participation of the Brazilian scientific community in the international scientific literature.”
For Abel Packer, director of the scientific journal portal SciELO, the model of transformative agreements arises from the growing demand from some research funding agencies to publish science open access.
“When Capes signs a transformative agreement, it does so in addition to a set of journals for which it has already paid a subscription. This means that, if tomorrow the journal that was closed ceases to be (becomes open access), but it was included in the agreement, you continue to have the right not to pay for APCs. This is an advantage for Brazil,” Packer said.
In Europe, the rate of open access publication is already around 80 to 85% of all articles, according to him. In Brazil, this year, according to data from the Scopus platform, 50% of scientific articles were published in open or hybrid access.
“This will increase open access research in Brazil. But it is important to remember that the country was a pioneer of open access, through SciELO. This should also be a policy applied to quality journals in Brazil, because someone has to fund it. And the costs are up to ten times lower,” Packer said.
Capes said that “the expansion of agreements with other publishers depends on technical, budgetary criteria and strategic interests.”
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