Scholarly Publishing, Freedom of Information and Academic Self-Determination: The UNAM-Elsevier Case
On February 1, 2015, the global information and analytics corporation Elsevier and the National Autonomous
University of Mexico (UNAM) established the agreement UNAM-Elsevier contract DGAJ-DPI-39-081114-
241, which saw the transfer from UNAM to Elsevier for the “production and hosting, advertising and
support” of 44 Mexican open access academic journals published by UNAM.
This article documents said contract and describes a Freedom of Information Request enquiring the total cost of the contract and its corresponding response. It also shares a series of considerations that, based on this case, can be helpful to other institutions that may face similar circumstances in the future. We conclude scholarly publishing and academic self-determination are interdependent and a crucial point of future debate for the future of University presses and Open Access worldwide.