Costs of scholarly publishing
The National Library monitors Swedish higher education institutions’ (HEIs) expenditures for scholarly publishing.
It is important to have an overview of the total cost of publishing during the transition to an open access scholarly publishing system.
The National Library began compiling data on the total cost of scholarly publishing in 2017. The data presented below covers 2025 and is presented in diagrams and downloadable files to ensure accessibility and practical use.
In 2025, the total cost of publishing for Swedish higher education institutions’ was approximately SEK 819 million.
2025
Expenditure item | Million Swedish kronor (SEK) |
|---|---|
Subscriptions, Bibsam¹ | 20 |
Local subscriptions | 186 |
Transformative agreements, Bibsam | 501 |
Open access publishing, Bibsam | 8 |
Open access publishing, research funders | 24 |
Open access publishing, local | 28 |
Acquisitions | 37 |
Open infrastructures | 15 |
Total cost of publication | 819 |
Overview of the total cost of publishing 2025.
1) The Swedish library Consortium, Bibsam, negotiates licence agreements on behalf of Swedish organisations.
Total cost of publishing
Background and methods
Since 2017, the National Library has published annual reports on the costs of scholarly publishing. Only the first report is available in English. It covers the methodology and terminology and also includes a background.