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Springer Nature makes open research easier for authors via simplified protocols offering

 Following the acquisition of protocols.io in 2023,  platform to now host all open protocols


London | Berlin | New York  6th June 2024

Following the acquisition of protocols.io in 2023, Springer Nature has today announced the migration of all protocols currently hosted on Protocols Exchange to the innovative platform, making protocols.io the home for the  publishers’  fully open protocols. Springer Nature hosts the world’s largest collection of protocols of biomedical and life sciences protocols covering over 155,000  protocols & methods. 


The transition enables authors to benefit from greater functionality and the dynamic offerings of a more collaborative platform, helping them to share, develop, and make their methods open in ways not possible with traditional platforms.


As a result of the transition to protocols.io, the publishers' Protocols Exchange platform will be closed for new  submissions by the end of Q3 2024. All protocols on the platform will be transferred to protocols.io. Alongside protocols.io, researchers choosing to publish with Springer Nature, will  still have the option to publish their protocols/methods in  peer-reviewed publications (searchable via Springer Nature Experiments). 


Speaking of the content migration and protocols offering, Harsh Jegadeesan, Chief Publishing Officer Springer Nature said:

 

 “Researchers have high expectations of the services and functionality that platforms should offer them, ensuring they can focus their time on where it is best spent - on the research. Traditional protocols and methods workflows typically do not enable dynamic sharing, collaboration and interaction, which can limit the ways in which research can then be reused and built upon. We are incredibly proud of what we were able to build with Protocols Exchange, laying the foundation for the sharing of scientific methods. This transition  means that we continue to offer our community the best in product support, as well as simplified workflows to enable easy sharing and ensure research impact beyond academia - helping find solutions to our world's greatest challenges.”


Lenny Teytelman, President and founder of protocols.io added:


“In a sense, Nature created the first preprint server for protocols in 2006 with the launch of Protocols Network (which became Protocol Exchange in 2010). When the team and I started protocols.io in 2014, we saw our effort as an extension of the Protocol Exchange mission. This new phase feels like a 

particularly meaningful and natural step in combining our forces and vision for a more open and reproducible research environment. One that would not be possible for protocols.io or Protocol Exchange individually.”


More on Springer Nature’s commitment to open research can be read here.

Notes to Editors

[1] Currently 65,000+ via Springer Nature Experiments, and 1700+ public and 73,100+ private via protocols.io

[1] Springer Nature Experiments contains the largest collection of protocols and methods for the life sciences published in renowned publications such as Methods in Molecular Biology as well as Nature Methods and Nature Protocols, which also offer hybrid OA publishing options.Springer Nature has a longstanding history in protocols and methods innovation, establishing the longest running methods and protocols book series (Methods in Molecular Biology) in 1983, launching Nature Methods in 2004, Nature Protocols in 2006, re-launching Protocols Network as Protocol Exchange in 2010, and in 2023 acquiring the innovative  protocols.io, a secure platform for scientific collaboration outside of traditional protocols and methods workflows.

About Springer Nature

For over 180 years Springer Nature has been advancing discovery by providing the best possible service to the whole research community. We help researchers uncover new ideas, make sure all the research we publish is significant, robust and stands up to objective scrutiny, that it reaches all relevant audiences in the best possible format, and can be discovered, accessed, used, re-used and shared. We support librarians and institutions with innovations in technology and data; and provide quality publishing support to societies. 

As a research publisher, Springer Nature is home to trusted brands including Springer, Nature Portfolio, BMC, Palgrave Macmillan and Scientific American. 

For more information, please visit springernature.com and @SpringerNature

Contact

Katie Baker | Corporate Affairs | Springer Nature

 katie.baker@springernature.com