Goals and evaluations of transformative agreements: an exploratory study of consortial approaches

Since the first transformative agreement (TA) in 2015, engagement in TAs has increased, as evidenced by the growing number of agreements in the Efficiencies Standards for Article Charges (ESAC) TA registry. This study aims to determine whether library consortia involved in TAs have clear goals and if they assess the agreements they negotiate. These two questions are answered by a literature review and an examination of websites and reports from 18 consortia with 15 or more TAs in the ESAC registry. The findings indicate that most consortia in the sample had a defined goal and had undertaken some form of assessment, although the depth and breadth of both varies widely. Some of the main themes that emerged were cost-neutrality, an increase in open access (OA) papers and a desire to pay for publishing rather than subscriptions. A key takeaway of this investigation was the importance of evaluating each agreement individually, due to the vast differences between TAs. An overarching theme was the role of research assessment practices, journal prestige and the perceived need for researchers to publish in certain publications – all factors that constrain libraries’ decisions to engage in TAs.