MDPI signs first U.S. consortium deal with Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries

Swiss Open Access publisher MDPI has agreed its first U.S. consortium deal with the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, adding 16 institutions to its publishing network.

MDPI has signed its first U.S. consortium agreement, partnering with the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries to expand Open Access publishing for academics in Colorado and Wyoming. The deal gives 16 member libraries access to discounted publishing through MDPI’s Institutional Open Access Program.

Consortium expands North American footprint

The agreement follows MDPI’s partnership with the Canadian Federal Science Libraries Network earlier this year and marks a further step in the publisher’s North American expansion. Libraries included in the new U.S. deal range from the University of Colorado Boulder to the Colorado School of Mines.

George Machovec, executive director at the Colorado Alliance, says: “The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries is pleased to have signed an agreement with MDPI for their Institutional Open Access Program on behalf of the academic institutions in Colorado and Wyoming. This agreement provides discounted APCs for authors to publish open access articles through the MDPI platform, thus promoting greater equity of access to researchers around the world.”

Agreement coincides with U.S. open access policy rollout

The partnership comes as U.S. agencies prepare to implement new public access requirements. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s 2022 guidance and the 2024 National Institutes of Health Public Access Policy have accelerated the shift toward federally funded research being freely available. In 2024 alone, more than 26,000 papers by U.S. researchers were published in MDPI journals indexed by Web of Science.

Ryan Siu, institutional partnerships manager for North America at MDPI, says: “MDPI’s partnership with the Colorado Alliance comes at an important time for Open Access in the United States. With OSTP’s 2022 public access guidance taking effect later this year, alongside the expediated 2024 NIH Public Access Policy implemented in July, institutions across the country are reassessing how they will support researchers in making federally funded research freely accessible. MDPI is proud to be a trusted partner helping institutions to navigate this shifting landscape and in making research free to read for people everywhere.”

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