It’s all about the money: financial aspects of transformative agreements and their impact on two university libraries in Sweden

This case study investigates, from our perspective, the financial aspects of transformative agreements (TAs) at two Swedish universities: Karolinska Institutet and Södertörn University. Through comparative cost analyses of four agreements, the study demonstrates that, when considering current publishing volumes, TAs have generally reduced overall publishing expenditures for the universities as a whole. However, they are very costly and have posed challenges for library budgeting, due to responsibility shifting from university to library budgets and unpredictable price changes. The study describes how TAs have forced through a new national cost allocation model for universities and how the withdrawal of financial support from research funders has further complicated the libraries’ finances. The authors argue that while TAs have increased open access publishing, they have also introduced new complexities such as establishing a viable budget. As Sweden moves toward agreements focused solely on publishing in fully open access journals, libraries must adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape while maintaining core values of accessibility and sustainability.