Close to 4,000 French researchers have pledged to?forgo access to Springer journals in order to pressure the publisher into lowering prices.

A consortium of French research organisations is currently without a contract with the publisher after the two sides failed to reach a deal on prices.

Couperin wants subscription prices to fall as more articles become open access, but it says that?Springer continues to demand increases.

In a posted to change.org, French researchers?say?that the ¡°toll taken by the major commercial scientific publishers¡± on universities and other research institutes has become ¡°simply unbearable¡±.

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¡°The inflationist pricing policy of the major commercial scientific publishers is a growing concern of the global scientific community,¡± the petition says.

Couperin has said that earlier this month, Springer Nature, which owns Springer, failed to follow through on a threat to cut journal access if no new deal was agreed, a claim on which the publisher has not commented.

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But access has been maintained, meaning that French institutions?can?access Springer journals for free, which Couperin says is costing the publisher about €5 million (?4.3 million) a year.

¡°Our work will be directly affected should Springer eventually decide to enact their decision and shut down access to their recent contents,¡± the petition says.

¡°However, we support the firm stance taken by Couperin and we are ready to endure this relative discomfort for as long as it will be necessary to bring Springer to acceptable propositions,¡± it continues.

If no such proposition is made, the researchers say that they are ready to have subscriptions cancelled.

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¡°No more direct access to Springer¡¯s latest papers? No problem. We will do without. There are so many ways: institutional depositories, social networks, direct requests to the authors¡­We are not worried,¡±?the petition?continues.

The publisher has said that it is maintaining access while it considers a new offer.

david.matthews@timeshighereducation.com