Norway’s Sikt extends open access deal with MDPI as Kristiania University joins national program

Becky Castellon, Institutional Partnerships Manager, MDPI

Thirty-six Norwegian institutions to continue receiving publishing support through MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program

The Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research (Sikt) has extended its agreement with open-access publisher MDPI for 2025, allowing 36 higher education and research institutions to continue benefiting from the publisher’s Institutional Open Access Program (IOAP).

Sikt, established in 2022, develops and delivers shared digital infrastructure and services to support the country’s education and research sector. The renewal of the agreement adds Kristiania University of Applied Sciences to the list of participating institutions, which already includes the University of Oslo, the University of Bergen, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and the Norwegian School of Sport Science.

Scope of agreement and funding model

MDPI’s IOAP enables participating institutions to access discounted Article Processing Charges (APCs) across its portfolio of more than 460 journals. The agreement is valid for one year and offers additional savings to those institutions using centralized funding mechanisms. According to MDPI, this model aims to reduce publishing costs while supporting long-term strategies for sustainable open access.

MDPI, based in Switzerland, is a major player in open access publishing, with over 445 journals and a contributor base of more than 3.7 million researchers worldwide. The company says its partnerships are designed to help institutions provide broader, more affordable access to scientific content.

The agreement with Sikt follows recent national deals by MDPI with over 100 institutions in Germany, as well as ongoing partnerships with the UK's Jisc, Sweden’s Bibsam Consortium, and the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries.

Becky Castellon, institutional partnerships manager at MDPI, says: “As strong advocates for open access, we are proud to continue our collaboration with Sikt. This renewal affirms our shared commitment to supporting Norwegian scholars, ensuring their research reaches a wide audience. More than that, it reinforces Norway’s aims to provide open access to all publicly funded research. In 2023, 84% of Norwegian research outputs were published in open access. We welcome the opportunity to drive this transition to full open access, underscored by growing momentum for open science in Europe and beyond.”