COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to digital learning and teaching and a tremendous amount of work has taken place to make this shift happen. We look back at some of the highlights of 2020 in supporting this rapid transformation in teaching, learning and research.

One of the first challenges was how to give students access to learning materials while campuses were closed. Jisc together with sector partners, published a call to action asking academic publishers to open up access to content and worked with textbook publishers and suppliers including Kortext and BibliU to make textbooks freely available without restrictions. In the space of just a few weeks, suppliers agreed on a nationwide programme to ensure all 2.4 million  university students and 217,000 academic staff could access their key learning resources.Most publishers responded positively to our call, and direct negotiations with suppliers that did not make additional materials available resulted in additional access to learning materials and research.On the software front, when the pandemic first took grip, we ensured that all institutions were aware of the home use rights available under their current agreements. We also initiated discussions with Adobe, which resulted in free student home use licences for all institutions in the UK until the middle of the summer.Critical accessAs the pandemic progressed, it was apparent that retaining access to existing content in light of increased costs and reduced income was going to be a critical challenge. In June, the  Universities UK Jisc content negotiation strategy group called on major academic publishers to provide reductions to reflect the pressures put on library budgets due to the pandemic. After months of intense negotiations, 27 publisher agreements were reduced in price, saving the sector £7.1m.[#pullquote#]After months of intense negotiations, 27 publisher agreements were reduced in price, saving the sector £7.1m.[#endpullquote#]Our transnational licensing service clarifies and implements licensing provision for UK HEIs which deliver content to students associated with transnational partnerships. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed guidance to address questions raised by Jisc member institutions – along with those brought to us on their behalf by SCONUL, RLUK & UUKi – relating to providing remote access to Jisc-licensed content to students based outside of the UK.Welcome reliefA further welcome relief to institutions was the removal of VAT on electronic publications, including academic journals. In response we evaluated the VAT status of all our 2500 agreements and asked publishers to review their rates accordingly. Since May we have worked with internal and external tax advisors, publishers and sector bodies such as BUFDG to encourage greater consistency and to ensure that our members can benefit from the VAT relief.The pandemic and the challenges of shifting to online further highlighted the value of open access to research. At the start of 2020 the Wiley transitional open access agreement was launched, converting 50% of UK subscription spend to support OA publishing. In just a year, the agreement has rapidly increased the amount of OA in hybrid titles from 30% to 78%.[#pullquote#]In just a year, the agreement has rapidly increased the amount of OA in hybrid titles from 30% to 78%.[#endpullquote#]One of the main vehicles to achieve rapid and cost-effective open access are the transitional agreements which include ‘read and publish’ agreements negotiated by Jisc. These allow for a sustainable transition for publishers whilst offering institutions online reading access to each publishers’ full portfolio and OA publishing for researchers. Jisc has secured 24 transformative agreements supporting the transition from paywalled to immediate and openly available research.New publishing modelsThe read and publish model doesn’t work for every publisher so we’re also trialling other OA models. The ‘Subscribe to Open’ model, which relies on maintaining revenues from the subscriber base to enable all content to be made OA, is the basis of our agreement with the European Mathematical Society (EMS) Press as well as one of the innovative article processing charges (APC)-free agreements with not-for-profit OA publisher, PLOS. Green OA continues to have an important role in ensuring funder compliance and was the approach favoured by members for our Emerald agreement.[#pullquote#]Green OA continues to have an important role in ensuring funder compliance[#endpullquote#]Throughout all of this, the Jisc licensing team continued to evaluate, negotiate, license and make available over 160 agreements, constraining costs and reducing administrative effort for our members.What’s on the cards for 2021?Next year, UK universities will commence negotiations with Elsevier, one of the world’s largest for-profit publishers, for a new ScienceDirect agreement that supports funder policies on open access and reduces and constrains sector expenditure. With thanks to our UUK Jisc content negotiation strategy group, our content expert group and our members, the sector has identified and agreed the key principles and strategy underlining the negotiations for 2021 and we look forward to working with all our members as we progress through the negotiation.At the start of 2021, we will continue to work with institutions to establish their immediate priorities and their future ambitions in providing a student learning experience as identified in the learning and teaching reimagined report. We will be evaluating the data from the Kortext and Bibliu agreements and continue discussions, alongside partners, to engage with publishers and suppliers on affordable and sustainable models.The long-term effects of the pandemic on public and institutional finances are yet to be seen, and it is clear that further turbulence lies ahead. Institutions will continue to do more with less whilst providing even  greater support for teaching and learning  and  enhancing the research  culture. However, with over 50% of UK research output now covered by a Jisc-negotiated transitional agreement, we’re on the right track to see radically increased access to research.[#pullquote#]we’re on the right track to see radically increased access to research.[#endpullquote#]More information about all available OA agreements that comply with the new Wellcome Trust OA policy can be found on our OA page.