Springer Nature's first annual report as a public company shows growth in open access and continued investment in technology to improve value for the community
The 2024 report features more AI initiatives to support the publishing process, increased usage of content and investment in integrity
London | Berlin | New York, 31 March 2025
Following the strong financial performance of Springer Nature released on 18 March, the company today issues its first annual report showing how Springer Nature is delivering on its mission to be part of progress. In 2024, research was made more visible for authors, more freely available and more trusted for all, with better value for money delivered for customers.
Highlights of the report include:
- Strong OA growth – 50% of primary research articles published open access (OA) in 2024 (1)
- 90+ AI initiatives to support an improved publishing experience – 2.3 million+ submissions supported and 482K+ articles published in 2024 (2)
- Increased value for money – c37% fall in average cost per download since 2019 (3)
- More visibility per article – research was used more (3.7 billion content downloads - up 18% on 2023) (4) and reused more (average citations per article up 4% to 5.2)(5)
- Increased investment in integrity – new AI tools, Geppetto and SnappShot, launched to identify problematic articles; specialist research integrity team expanded to 50
- Less impact on the planet - c50% reduction in total carbon emissions reported since 2019; new energy efficient offices opened
- Growth in SDG-related publishing – over one million Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-related articles and book chapters published; over 50% of these articles published OA
Frank Vrancken Peeters, Chief Executive Officer of Springer Nature, said:
“I am very proud of how we continue to deliver on our mission to be part of progress. We remain focused on serving our community by enabling millions of researchers, educators, learners and health professionals to, every day, access, trust and make sense of the latest insights and discoveries.”
The annual report additionally sets out how it is supporting its wider communities around the world including:
In the US, where Springer Nature continued its outreach activities bringing policymakers and scientists together as part of its annual Science on the Hill event which this year focused on the science and policy of space junk
In India, where the company undertook its second extensive research tour to over 24 research institutions to promote open access and support integrity
2024 also saw Springer Nature extend its commitment to supporting teachers, learners and healthcare professionals, deploying technology and AI to create products such as Macmillan Education Everywhere, a single flexible platform for all its education content, Macmillan AI Assistant (MAIA) to help teachers find the perfect course for their classroom, and Ask Adis AI, a conversational chat interface for the pharmaceutical industry.
Frank Vrancken Peeters continued:
“Science and learning are best served when people work together - whether it is in how we are supporting the global research community transition to OA, to exploring how new technological advancement can benefit our authors, editors, peer reviewers and customers, across the board. Going forward we will continue to put the communities we serve at the centre, living up to our purpose to work collaboratively, sharing knowledge to bring greater understanding to the world.”
The full annual report can be found here
Further details of Springer Nature’s financial performance in 2024 can be found here.
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1 The 50% refers to research articles including Cureus, but excludes Nature Portfolio reviews and magazine content.
2 The 482k+ articles refers to research articles including Cureus, but excludes Nature Portfolio reviews and magazine content.
3 Average cost per download has fallen c.37% since 2019 (books and journals, excluding OA content).
4 Source: COUNTER 5 usage compared to 2023.
5 2023 articles. Source: Digital Science, Dimensions. Article citations in publication year and year after publication year. Data originally reported as 4.34 in 2022 (restated to 4.98).
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. For more information, please visit about.springernature.com and @SpringerNature.
Susie Winter | Springer Nature | Communications and Corporate Affairs
