About SANLiC
What we do and why
We negotiate collective license agreements with publishers and aggregators for scholarly reading and publishing services on behalf of our members and beneficiaries.
We actively promote a transition to open access according to the best interests and participation of our members as expressed in our negotiation principles for a transformational transition to Open Access to give effect to science as a global good, available and accessible worldwide.
VISION
SANLiC is the primary facilitator of cost-effective access to high-quality, scholarly electronic information and open access publishing in public higher education and research institutions.
MISSION
SANLiC facilitates, on a non-profit basis, affordable access to scholarly electronic information resources and participation in open science in support of the learning, teaching, and research activities of its members.
Governance
As required by the Companies Act, SANLiC is governed by a Memorandum of Incorporation adopted at a General Meeting on 9 May 2013 and last updated at the Annual General Meeting of members on 28 June 2023.
Board Directors
Ms Lindiwe Soyizwapi (Chairperson)
Prior to joining the University of Pretoria, Lindiwe served in leadership positions at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus and was the campus librarian on the Westville campus of UKZN.
Dr Shirlene Neerputh (Deputy Chairperson)
An active member of several professional organisations, she is the immediate past chairperson of the Committee of Higher Education Libraries of South Africa (2022), she chaired LIASA’s Higher Education Interest Group (2018-2020), was a board member on the LIASA Professional Board (2018), and a council member of the South African Library for the Blind (2016-2022).
Shirlene has completed the Nuffic Doctoral Supervision and the University Resilient Leadership Management Course at the Stellenbosch Business School and was also an external panel reviewer for the University of the Free State Library and Information Services in 2022.
Ms. Siphethile Gcukumana leads the Knowledge Management and Information Services portfolio at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). She brings over 18 years of experience in the scientific, academic, and information services sectors. Siphethile holds a master’s degree in information technology from the University of Pretoria.
She has actively contributed to professional associations, having served in LIASA Gauteng North Branch and as an Executive Committee member of the South African Online User Group (SAOUG). She has also facilitated modules for the CODATA-RDA School of Research Data Science, offered through the University of Pretoria.
Currently, Siphethile serves as an external member of the Library Advisory Committee for the University of Pretoria Library Services and represents the CSIR on the GITOC Standing Committee on Knowledge Management, Innovation, and Research.
Her scholarly contributions include a peer-reviewed journal article and three conference papers.
Mr Magodongo Mahalangu
Magodongo A. Mahlangu is a dynamic and visionary leader in library and information services with over two decades of experience across leading South African universities. He currently serves as Director: Library and Information Services at Sol Plaatje University, following senior roles at CPUT, Tshwane University of Technology, and the University of Johannesburg.
He holds an MBA from Tshwane University of Technology, with a research focus on evaluating the effectiveness of university libraries, as well as a BA Honours and Bis: Library and Information from the University of Pretoria.
Magodongo has contributed significantly to the profession through numerous local and international conference presentations and previously served as member of the Institutional Forum at UJ. Chair of the Innovative User Group Southern Africa, and Treasurer of CHELSA.
He is known for his strategic thinking, transformational leadership, and passion for advancing innovation in academic libraries.
Ms Zanele Mathe
Zanele Mathe is an accomplished academic library professional with over 20 years of experience in higher education and research environments. She currently holds the position of Director of Library Services at the University of Zululand. Previously, she served as the inaugural Director of Library Services at the University of Mpumalanga, where she played a crucial role in establishing foundational library systems and services. Ms. Mathe possesses a Master’s degree in Business Systems from Hochschule Wismar University of Applied Sciences. Her professional focus is on digital transformation, open access, and enhancing the role of libraries within learning, research, and innovation ecosystems.
Ms. Mathe is actively involved in various institutional and national committees, including serving as an Executive Committee member of the Committee of Higher Education Libraries in South Africa (CHELSA). Additionally, as a Board Member of SANLiC, she provides strategic insights, extensive sectoral expertise, and a strong commitment to promoting equitable access to scholarly information across South Africa’s higher education landscape.
Dr Nonhlanhla Ngcobo is the Director of Library Services at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She holds a PhD in Information Studies and a Masters degree in Information Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her library career started at the eThekwini Municipal Libraries, where she held various leadership roles. She has occupied academic library leadership positions for over 20 years.
An active LIASA member, Nonhlanhla served as the LIASA KZN Branch Chair-elect from 2014-2016 and as the branch chairperson from 2016-2018. She has also presented at national and international conferences on key library and information science issues.
Mr Lindsay Reid is the Director of Library and Information Services at Nelson Mandela University. He holds a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Fort Hare and has over 20 years of experience in the academic library environment. Lindsay began his library career as an IT Technician at the Eastern Cape Technikon (now Walter Sisulu University) Butterworth Campus, followed by a role as Systems Librarian for the South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS) Consortium in Port Elizabeth. Before his current role, he held several leadership positions, including Library Systems Manager at the University of Fort Hare’s Alice Campus, Branch Librarian at Nelson Mandela University’s Missionvale Campus, and at North-West University’s Potchefstroom Campus. Lindsay is passionate about leveraging technology to advance library services and supporting collaborative initiatives in higher education.
Dr Daisy Selematsela
A recipient of the Knowledge Management Leadership Award in 2016 and in 2019, she is an active member of numerous professional organisations and currently serves as a director on the boards of ORCID, Research4Life; CODATA International, the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa and Committee of Higher Education Libraries of South Africa. She was a speaker at the 1st International Conference on Knowledge & Innovation Management, chairs the South African Committee on Data and Science, is a past board member of the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR), and serves on the editorial boards of three professional journals.
She is also on the programme committee for the 2022 International Data Week and on the International Planning Committee for the 13th International Congress of Medical Librarianship + Association for Health Information & Libraries in Africa.
Mr Glenn Truran (SANLiC Director)
Staff
Ms Frieda Billson (Licensing Manager)
Frieda Billson is the Licensing Manager at SANLiC. She is based in Gauteng. She graduated from the University of Pretoria with a B.I.S. (Hons) degree and has acquired 21 years of expertise in managing and optimising electronic library resources. Her career began at Swets, where she worked as a Subscription Agent for seven years. In 2011, she transitioned to the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), where she has spent the past 14 years as an Electronic Resources Specialist. In this role, she has been instrumental in the management, marketing, negotiation, activation, evaluation, and maintenance of the library’s electronic resources, ensuring accessibility and efficiency in research support.
Ms Naomi Gaines (Administrator)
Naomi is based in Cape Town and is the anchor in the SANLiC office. She is the contact for finance related enquiries. Her vibrant and friendly character will welcome you. Her work experience includes administration, public relations and managing the KwaZulu-Natal Province office of the Paraffin Safety Association.
Ms Zine Sapula (Open Access Project Manager)
Zine is responsible for the SANLiC Open Access data analysis and communication and is based Gauteng. She holds a BA Honours degree in Information Science from UNISA and is a certified Data Carpentry instructor. She has over 10 years of experience in Library and Information Services, having worked in various South African institutions, including national, public, special, and academic libraries.
Her professional expertise encompasses open science, bibliometrics, information literacy, literature searches, collection development, data analysis, and referencing. She is part of The Carpentries, a global community that teaches data science skills to researchers using open tools. She has participated in Data Carpentry workshops nationally and internationally.
Glenn Truran is based in the SANLiC office in Cape Town. After graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), he worked as an educator in South Africa and England. He has worked for poverty alleviation non-profit organisations for most of his career and has over 20 years’ experience at a managerial level. He has a BA and two post graduate diplomas from Wits, the first in education and the second in public policy and development administration. He also has an MBA from the University of Cape Town.
Membership
Membership of SANLiC is for South African Public Higher Education Institutions, Statutory Research and Science Institutions, or other Public Entities. It is based upon application and is granted at the sole discretion of the Board.
Our members include:
- Agricultural Research Council ›
- Cape Peninsula University of Technology ›
- Central University of Technology ›
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research ›
- Durban University of Technology ›
- Human Sciences Research Council ›
- Mangosuthu University of Technology ›
- MINTEK ›
- Medical Research Council ›
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University ›
- National Library of South Africa ›
- North West University ›
- National Research Foundation of South Africa ›
- Rhodes University ›
- Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University ›
- Sol Plaatje University ›
- Stellenbosch University ›
- Tshwane University of Technology ›
- University of South Africa ›
- University of Cape Town ›
- University of Fort Hare ›
- University of Johannesburg ›
- University of KwaZulu-Natal ›
- University of Limpopo ›
- University of Mpumalanga ›
- University of Pretoria ›
- University of the Free State ›
- University of Venda ›
- University of Western Cape ›
- University of Witwatersrand ›
- University of Zululand ›
- Vaal University of Technology ›
- Walter Sisulu University ›
BENEFICIARIES
SANLiC also offers services to libraries of non-profit institutions that are not eligible for membership.
The following institutions are beneficiaries of SANLiC services:
Annual Reports
Affiliations
SANLiC is an active member of:
SANLiC is also the South African country representative on the governing council of the Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics (SCOAP3), a partnership of 3,000 libraries, funding agencies, research institutions and intergovernmental organisations across the globe that converts high-quality subscription journals in the field of High-Energy Physics to Open Access through the redirection of subscriptions funds.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who can apply for membership of SANLiC?
Only not for profit entities need apply. Prospective member and beneficiary institutions may request application forms from the SANLiC office. Once satisfactorily completed and returned to SANLiC, the application will be submitted to the SANLiC Board for consideration.
Click here to contact us to initiate an application.
2. Who is SANLiC?
SANLiC’s registered company name is the South African National Library and Information Consortium of South Africa (RF) NPC, a ring fenced, membership-based, non-profit company. As a consortium SANLiC enables members to collaborate for mutual benefit including, but not limited to, negotiating better prices, terms and conditions for electronic library and information resources.
1. What is the difference between a Transformative Agreement, a Read and Publish agreement, and a Publish and Read Agreement?
A Transformative Agreement or TA (the “what”) is an umbrella term for any contract aiming to transition scholarly journals from subscription-based to open access. All TA models aim to remove direct APC burdens (open access article processing charges) burdens from researchers and increase the volume of open-access content.
A Read & Publish or R&P (the “how”) is a specific transformative model where institutions pay for access to read journals, with the added benefit of covering open access publication costs for their researchers. In the case of SANLiC agreements, it is a means of “repurposing” traditional read subscription expenditure to pay for open access publishing. Open Access publishing services, mainly in hybrid journals, become an additional service covered by the subscription fee that previously only covered read access.
A Publish & Read Agreement or P&R (the “how”) differs in that the fee is more heavily weighted toward covering the cost of open access publishing (Publish), and the institution gains access to the content (Read) as a result of that investment. An agreed upon publish and read (PAR) fee is paid per article published by institution or consortium members, shifting the financial aspect away from paying to read to paying to publish.
The Subscribe to Open (S2O) Model (another “how”) is another mechanism to transition established subscription-based journals to full open access (OA) without requiring authors to pay APCs. Libraries continue to pay subscriptions; if a participation threshold is met, the journal content for that year becomes free to read and open for all, removing the paywall. It shifts the purpose of subscription payments from “paying to read” to “underwriting” open access publishing with no author facing charges (APCs), acting as a bridge to a fully OA.
All these agreements seek to transition publishing models, encourage open science, and eliminate individual APC payments (author facing charges). Both essentially repurpose existing library expenditures to support open access publication.
2. Who is eligible to publish under a Read and Publish Agreement?
- Only the corresponding author qualifies for the OA publishing benefit,
- The corresponding author’s institution is subscribing to the agreement in question, and
- The author is affiliated with a participating institution at the time of article acceptance.
3. Does the corresponding author have to be affiliated with a participating institution?
Yes. The corresponding author must be affiliated with a participating institution at the time of submission and acceptance and must use their institutional affiliation and institution email address. Contact your library for verification.
4. Can co-authors from non-participating institutions benefit from the agreement?
No. The benefit applies only to the eligible corresponding author from participating institution and cannot be shared among co-authors.
5. With which publishers does SANLiC have Read and Publish agreements?
Please see the list of publishers above.
6. Which journals are included in Read and Publish Agreements?
The publisher determines which journals are included or excluded to both reading and publishing right. Generally, all hybrid journal in a package are included for reading and OA publishing. In some agreements, fully open access (or Gold) journals are included either with a discounted APC or a 100% fee waiver. Please see “Journals covered by the R&P agreement journal title list above.
7. Are all journals DHET accredited?
Not all journals under the agreements are DHET accredited, but ion average 82% of the hybrid and 74% of the fully open journals are DHET accredited. Please check journal accreditation on the DHET accredited journal list before submitting the manuscript or contact your library.
8. Which article types are eligible for Read and Publish agreement?
Yes. The corresponding author must be affiliated with a participating institution at the time of submission and acceptance and must use their institutional affiliation and institution email address. Contact your library for verification.
9. Will my Article Processing Charge (APC) be fully covered?
Eligible articles published in hybrid journals and selected fully open-access journals are fully covered under the agreements, while articles in fully OA journals from Oxford University Press, Elsevier, and SAGE receive APC discounts. There are no fully open journals included in the Springer R&P agreement. See the APC discounts under OUP, Elsevier and SAGE (links above).
10. Which Creative Commons licence should be applied to article types eligible for Read and Publish agreements in SANLiC?
For articles eligible under SANLiC transformative agreements, the CC BY licence from Creative Commons is preferred, as it enables maximum visibility, reuse, and open-science compliance.
Click here to contact us to to see explanation for CC BY license.
11. There seems to be a quota/cap on the number of articles that can be published. How do we know when we cannot publish any more towards the end of the year?
Most SANLiC R&P agreements are either uncapped, or the annual cap is higher than South Africa’s typical publishing pattern. The agreements most at risk of reaching their cap are Springer, Taylor & Francis and Emerald. We publish balance updates on this page under each agreement that has a cap on OA article publishing rights above.
12. Does the agreement cover for additional fees like page, colour or cover charges?
No. Agreements cover ONLY the Article Processing Charge (APC).
13. Who can I contact for further assistance?
For eligibility checks, publisher lists, caps, and workflow guidance, please contact your institutional library or scholarly communications office.
History
Previously known as the Coalition of South African Library Consortia (COSALC), SANLiC was initiated in 1999 by representatives of several regional academic library bodies, who were all at the time, sub-committees of the regional academic consortia. A decision was taken to establish COSALC as a national umbrella organisation with the vision “to enhance access to information and the sharing of resources to benefit the clients of library consortia in South Africa through national co-operation.” It was subsequently also decided that COSALC membership would include not only the regional academic consortia, but also the public research consortium, as well as the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) and the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA).
COSALC’s main operational and strategic focus was aimed at national level. It had as its main focus access to electronic information through the establishment of the national site licensing activity within its structures which became widely known as the South African Site Licensing Initiative (SASLI). Its role was to establish needs; negotiate licenses and prices with publishers; co-ordinate access, delivery and training; and deal with other issues related to the cost-effective use of electronic information.
In 2003 COSALC was registered as a Section 21 (non-profit organisation) company in terms of the Companies Act. The South African Revenue Service (SARS) approved its application for tax exempt status in March 2005, and in the same year it was also registered as a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) in terms of the Non-Profit Organisations Act (Act 71 of 1997).
On 21 June 2011 the Coalition of South African Library Consortia (COSALC) name was changed to the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC). On 27 August 2015, SANLiC was registered as a VAT Vendor with the South African Revenue Service.