Latest transformative agreement for Greece signed between Springer Nature and HEAL-Link
The publisher’s 18th national agreement adds to the growth in open access publishing across Southern Europe
London | Berlin | Thessaloniki, 15 December 2022
Springer Nature continues its support for open access publishing with its latest transformative agreement (TA) in Greece. The TA with HEAL-Link, the consortium of Greek academic libraries, will see authors from 43 academic and research institutions able to publish open access (OA) in over 2,300 Springer, Adis and Palgrave journals. This agreement will also give authors full access to subscription content in these journals.
Commenting on the new agreement with HEAL-Link, Caroline Nevison, Director, Open Access Agreements, Springer Nature said:
“At Springer Nature we are committed to driving forward the sustainable transition to OA for all authors regardless of discipline, background or location. We are proud to be working with organisations such as HEAL-Link and others around the world to further support the drive towards open science both regionally and internationally.”
Nevison continued: “Alongside the other 17 national agreements we have in place, this deal is another step in making real progress in the advancement of open science. This agreement will see the opening up of knowledge and will enable the wider global dissemination and reach of the important research being published by Greek researchers which is looking to address the pressing problems we are facing globally.”
Professor Theodora Ioannidou, Chairperson, HEAL-Link added: “The open access agreement of HEAL-Link with Springer Nature is a milestone for the Greek academic institutions and their libraries. It shows that HEAL-Link is determined to make open access in Greece a reality. Springer Nature has a wide portfolio that allows all disciplines to be expressed openly and increases the competitiveness of the research that is performed in our institutions."
The researchers at the 43 Greek institutions covered by the deal will benefit from more citations, greater usage and better reach for their research when publishing OA, opening up their research to the world.
This agreement is the latest in a year which has seen Springer Nature sign Japan’s largest OA deal to date, agree the largest institutional deal to date in Latin America, sign a new deal in Italy and extend agreements in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. The publisher’s Nature titles have also seen a number of TAs extended. The agreements form part of Springer Nature’s commitment to driving forward sustainable open research for all, with these agreements allowing researchers from over 2,650 affiliated institutions to publish open access, enabling an expected 41,400+ OA articles to be published a year.
More on Springer Nature’s TAs can be found here, with further information on the publisher’s commitment to open science and its wider principles available here.
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Note to Editors:
What is a transformative agreement (TA)?
Definition: TAs enable participating institutions to combine journal subscription (read) access along with open access (OA) publication costs (APCs). In addition to managing the cost and administration of OA, TAs offer authors an easy way to comply with funders’ OA requirements.
Description: Under a transformative agreement subscription access and OA publishing are brought together into one reading and publishing contract across a consortium of institutions. This means that researchers in those institutions can publish under the “gold” open access model, while also gaining access to research in subscription journals. Spearheaded by Springer Nature with the first such agreement signed with the Association of Dutch Universities, VSNU, Netherlands in 2014, these agreements make the administration of OA simpler for both the institutions participating and their researchers. In addition, these agreements enable a wider group of researchers to benefit from the enhanced discoverability, increased citation and increased usage of OA content, help to solve the problem that some academic disciplines lack OA funding (a centralised APC allows any researcher from the participating institution, regardless of academic discipline, to publish OA), and also provide researchers with an easy way to comply with funders’ OA requirements.
Springer Nature has national transformative agreements in place in Austria, Australia, Colombia, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
More on Springer Nature’s approach to OA and Open research can be viewed here and here.
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The Hellenic Academic Libraries Link (HEAL-Link) has operated since 1998 and its members include all the academic and research institutions operating under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Education & Religious Affairs.
HEAL-Link aims at amplifying the capabilities and effectiveness of its members through collective action, creating economies of scale through group purchases of electronic resources and information services to facilitate improved teaching, learning, research, and information service delivery to users and also at undertaking any initiative that promotes and develops the Academic Libraries of Greece through joint activities. In the framework of its activity to strengthen Open Access in Greece, HEAL-Link explores systematically the ways and means for the transition to a new scientific publication landscape, which will be sustainable and beneficial to the academic and research institutions, as well as to the public. In this process, it constantly evaluates international developments and actively participates in relevant initiatives for the benefit of the Greek academic and research community. For more information visit heal-link.gr and @heallinkgr.
Sam Sule | Communications | Springer Nature
sam.sule@springernature.com
