FiF-Workshop 2026 DEAL Workshop on the Crisis in Academic Publishing
Workshop
The name DEAL stands for the publication procedure established several years ago through agreements between the Alliance of Science Organisations and the three major publishers Springer Nature, Elsevier and Wiley, whose stated goal is to get the rising costs of the aforementioned publishers' journals (actually: licence packages), which are indispensable for research, under control. DEAL is also intended to help establish open access (OA) as the ‘gold standard’ of scientific publishing
The DEAL system is defended by some as a step forward and a publication system that is in line with the digital transformation process. It is convenient for authors to use, and the considerable costs (‘APC’) have been borne for years by scientific institutions, in universities mostly by libraries. However, many people working in the scientific system – whether as scientists or librarians – now view these developments critically and with great concern. This is because DEAL is no longer affordable. It also creates false incentives for ‘ever more’ publications. In addition, it has not been possible to stop the digital ‘tracking’ of authors and readers, and contract negotiations are characterised by an asymmetry of power. Does DEAL not even favour the business models of large publishers – and thus, conversely, accelerate the demise of smaller, yet equally important academic publishers? What concrete steps can universities take? Are there any ways out of the obvious crisis in the academic publishing system? These pressing questions relating to DEAL will be the focus of a workshop organised by the FiF on the initiative of Vice President Peter Pelz and in cooperation with ZEVEDI on 11 March 2026. Contributions are expected from Dr Angela Holzer (Programme Director [Scientific Literature Supply and Information Systems Group], DFG), Dr Bernhard Mittermaier (Head of the Central Library, Jülich Research Centre) and Dr Arne Scholtissek (Department of Mechanical Engineering, TU Darmstadt).
This is an event organised by FiF in cooperation with ZEVEDI.
When: 11 March 2026, 3–6 p.m.
Where: Lichtenberg House, Dieburger Straße 241
About DEAL
Scientists in Germany rely on journals to discuss hypotheses, validate their methods, and disseminate their findings in more than 100,000 peer-reviewed journal articles each year. Publishing is an integral part of the research process and contributes to scientific progress by building upon established findings.
Open access publication models promote scientific progress. The Alliance of Science Organisations initiated the DEAL project to negotiate new contractual models with journal publishers that are supposed to enable the open dissemination of research results from Germany.
The following links are only available in German :
