Jisc should not buy services that not does not want

In the first of two disapointing scholarly-communication announcements last week, Jisc announced its report on progress towards open access in the UK. The key finding is:

Despite improvements – rapid growth in transitional agreements, sector savings and high levels of funder compliance – a full transition to open access will not happen soon.

But that’s not the part that disappoints me. Here’s the part that disappoints me:

Transitional agreements were envisioned as a temporary mechanism to support a transition to full open access. They set out to constrain costs for institutions and drive rapid growth of open access at a UK and global level.

However, the review suggests they are at risk of becoming the ‘norm’ and that the rate of transition is too slow.

Sometimes I think people don’t know what “transitional” means. Folks, a transitional agreement is by definition one that gets you from one place to another — in this case, from a subscription-based scholarly publishing ecosystem to an open-access one. It’s what a transitional agreement is for. If it does not do that, then it’s not transitional. In particular, a transitional agreement that becomes “the ‘norm’” is a stalled agreement. It is, unambiguously, a failure.

So that was the part that disappointed me. And here comes the part that infuriates me (quoted from Professor Stephen Decent, chair of the Jisc UUK Content Negotiation Strategy Group):

Despite significant sector-wide investment, the transition from the paywall system to full open access remains elusive. It’s clear that our open research scholarship objectives are out of step with many publishers’ commercial strategies.

Why does Jisc give a nematode’s anal sphincter about publishers’ commercial strategies? Has it forgotten that it’s the customer here? Jisc is not beholden to the preferences of publishers, publishers are required (or, in a sane world, would be) to provide what Jisc wants.

Look. If I go into Tesco to buy a cabbage, it may happen that I find that my cabbage-purchasing objectives are out of step with Tesco’s commercial strategy. But if that happens, I go and buy my cabbage from Sainsbury’s instead.

What I don’t do is buy a Tesco bath-towel instead, because selling bath-towels is their commercial strategy. Why not? Because I want a cabbage, not a bath towel.

I trust I do not need to spell this out, but I will anyway for avoidance of doubt: Jisc should not buy what these publishers are selling, but should instead find publishers that are selling what Jisc want to buy.