Scientific Reports reaches publishing milestone - over one million authors supported in publishing open access (OA); 6.65m+ citations achieved
Authors benefit from global reach and impact of world’s largest OA journal and the third most cited [1]
Berlin | London | New York 10 December 2025
More than one million unique researchers [2] from around the world have chosen to publish their research with Scientific Reports, the world’s largest open access (OA) journal, with their research cited over 6.65 million times. This milestone reflects the journal's enduring value to the global research community in providing a trusted, multidisciplinary platform for authors and supporting the global drive towards open science.
Analysis of its one million author base shows:
Scientific Reports delivers strong impact for its authors and value for the research community
- Articles published in Scientific Reports are highly used, having been cited over 6.65 million times globally since 2014 [3] and downloaded over 1.7billion times [4]. With published research shaping key scientific conversations, informing policy documentation (over 7,500 mentions including in policy documentation around flood protection and carbon budgets), patents (papers have been cited in over 21,500 patents), and contributing to and publishing research by Nobel prize winning laureates, content continues to provide strong value and impact not only for researchers but for the wider global community, helping to address key societal issues [5].
- Around 60% of citations come from Europe, North America, and East Asia—highlighting the journal’s impact across major research hubs. Articles published by Scientific Reports have received over 6.65million citations globally, with each article receiving 24.2 citations, on average [6].
- Top three research areas include Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (49.5%), Biological Sciences (13.7%), and Engineering (10.4%).
Research continues to have a strong international representation
- 42% of the one million authors are from the Global South.The 1 million authors represent over 190 countries and or territories including authors from some of the top 100 Times Higher Education ranked universities [7].
- Lead authors span the globe: 30% from Europe, 23% from China, 15% from East and Southeast Asia, 14% from the USA, around 18% from other regions.
- Collectively, these one million authors have published over 250,000 papers, with Europe leading in publication volume—over 70,000 papers published since 2014.
Commenting Chief Editor Dr Rafal Marszalek, Scientific Reports, said:
“Reaching one million authors is a remarkable milestone that reflects the trust researchers place in Scientific Reports as a high-quality, inclusive publishing platform. With our longstanding commitment to open access and open science, we remain focused on being an outlet of choice for all researchers—empowering them with increased visibility, downloads, and citations.
“Supporting over one million authors to publish OA reinforces our dedication to transparent, accessible, multidisciplinary research and the values that continue to shape the future of scholarly communication.”
Early Career researcher Anurag Roy, University of Exeter, shared more about his experience of publishing with Scientific Reports in his recent Research Communities, blog. for Springer Nature.
Scientific Reports is the world’s largest OA journal by article volume and sits as part of the Nature Portfolio published by Springer Nature. Publishing original research from across all areas of the natural sciences, psychology, medicine and engineering, it was the world’s third most cited journal in 2024. Demonstrating its role on the impact of accelerating research and tackling global challenges, content published by the journal has informed over 6,600 policy documents from organisations including the World Bank, WHO, CDC and GOV.UK. Since its founding it has been committed to opening up research and supporting the global transition and drive towards OA for all researchers.
[1] 2024 Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Clarivate Analytics, 2025)
[2] Representing all authors across all positions, i.e. lead author, co-author etc. Data presented in the PR is taken from internal Springer Nature sources.
[3]Springer Nature Insights/ Dimensions pulled in November 2025. Published here - About Scientific Reports | Scientific Reports
[4] Springer Nature Insights/ Dimensions pulled in November 2025. Published here - About Scientific Reports | Scientific Reports
[5] Data pulled from altmetric and correct as of December 9th 2025.
[6] Springer Nature Insights pulled in November 2025.[7] About Scientific Reports | Scientific Reports
Springer Nature is one of the leading publishers of research in the world. We publish the largest number of journals and books and are a pioneer in open research. Through our leading brands, trusted for more than 180 years, we provide technology-enabled products, platforms and services that help researchers to uncover new ideas and share their discoveries, health professionals to stay at the forefront of medical science, and educators to advance learning. We are proud to be part of progress, working together with the communities we serve to share knowledge and bring greater understanding to the world.
LKatie Baker | External Communications | Springer Nature
katie.baker@springernature.com
