Academic publisher De Gruyter Brill and the consortium Irish Research e-Library (IReL) are pleased to announce the signing of a new agreement which gives over two hundred thousand researchers, staff and students at eighteen participating IReL member institutions access to the complete collection of De Gruyter Brill journals while allowing affiliated authors to publish their research open access in De Gruyter Brill journals at no extra cost.
The agreement will last from January 2026 to December 2028, and will allow users unrestricted access to all issues of the entire De Gruyter Brill portfolio of over 830 journals, dating back as far as 1826 and including top-tier titles like Vigiliae Christianae, Semiotica, or the Journal of the History of International Law.
The agreement’s publishing provisions will allow authors to publish open access in over 790 journals, a growing number of which have adopted the innovative model Subscribe to Open. Subscribe to Open is an alternative open access transformation model, relying on existing library subscriptions and allowing authors to publish open access with no costs, regardless of their affiliation.
Susan Reilly, IReL’s Director, said:
“IReL’s relationship with De Gruyter Brill began with an IReL collections review, which showed us that De Gruyter Brill was one of the most popular publishers with IReL affiliated authors where we didn’t yet have an agreement in place. And we’re very pleased that the ensuing agreement strongly aligns with IReL’s principles: providing uncapped OA at an affordable price, with transparent licensing terms, and including an equitable model (Subscribe to Open) which remove barriers to OA publishing.”
Linda Empringham, EMEA Sales Director, De Gruyter Brill said:
“We are delighted to enter into this new agreement with IReL. This partnership marks an important step in expanding open access publishing across Ireland, and we look forward to supporting researchers at IReL member institutions. We are pleased to contribute to IReL’s goal of achieving a more sustainable and inclusive course for delivering 100% open access publishing to the Irish research community.”
More details: https://irel.ie/open-access/de-gruyter-brill/
About IReL:
The Irish Research e-Library is a consortium of Irish research libraries. Established in 2004, it provides participating member institutions with access to a wide range of licensed e-resources, open access publishing agreements with over twenty publishers, and open research infrastructure. IReL is hosted by Maynooth University.
IReL has endorsed the NORF Action Plan, in particular its goal that by 2030 Ireland will have implemented a sustainable and inclusive course for achieving 100% open access to research publications.
About De Gruyter Brill:
De Gruyter Brill is a global publishing leader in the humanities and beyond. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with its second-largest office in Leiden, The Netherlands, De Gruyter Brill publishes over 3,500 books and 800 journals annually, with a focus on the humanities and social sciences, while covering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Established in 2024 through the merger of De Gruyter (founded in 1749) and Brill (founded in 1683), De Gruyter Brill is a family-owned, independent publisher committed to curating indispensable research that breaks boundaries, builds new bonds, and shapes a better future. For more information, please visit degruyterbrill.com.