Springer Nature and Jisc renew UK Open Access agreement increasing access for UK researchers
Agreement includes expanded uncapped open access publishing across select Nature Portfolio journals
London | Heidelberg, 23 April 2026
Springer Nature and Jisc have renewed their Open Access (OA) agreement, building on a decade of partnership to expand access to UK-led research.
Since agreeing one of the UK’s first OA deals in 2016, OA uptake across UK-authored research has increased, reaching nearly 80% in 20251 underlying the impact of the Jisc Open Access agreement in centrally supporting OA publishing routes for researchers. As a result, more than 46,000 UK-funded articles have been published under the agreement, delivering strong usage and engagement for researchers with over 231 million global downloads of content published2 via the deal.
Carolyn Honour, Chief Commercial Officer, Springer Nature, said:
“We first established an Open Access agreement with Jisc over ten years ago, a pioneering concept at the time. We are proud of this long-standing partnership, which has enabled us to reach an agreement that is significant for the UK research community and supports the continued progress of open access.
Our commitment to working in partnership with the research community remains central to how we help advance open research and responsible publishing. By collaborating with organisations such as Jisc, we continue to evolve publishing models that expand access, support reuse, and help trusted research deliver greater global impact.”
The renewed agreement reflects the continued commitment of both partners in supporting UK researchers to publish openly and to benefit from the wider reach and impact of OA. Running from 2026-2028, the extended agreement enables Jisc affiliated authors from over 120 UK institutions to benefit from:
Continued access and uncapped OA publishing options across Springer Nature’s 2,000+ hybrid journals, alongside reading access to more than 2,300 Springer journals.
Uncapped OA publishing in 41 Nature Portfolio journals, expanding opportunities to publish openly in some of the world’s most influential research titles.
Continued reading access to Nature Reviews, Nature Protocols and Scientific American, supporting researchers across the full research cycle.
Extension of full OA options supporting authors with flexible funding routes.
Alongside direct benefits for researchers, the agreement supports participating institutions by providing clear, institutionally supported routes to OA publishing. This helps to broaden participation in OA across a wide range of institutions and disciplines, while supporting simplified workflows and reduced administrative burden.
More information on Springer Nature's OA agreements, its approach to OA and open science, and its commitment to the research community can be found in its annual OA report and its latest annual report.
Footnotes:
[1] As a result of Springer Nature’s OA agreement– data reflects 2017-2025, and as such reports usage after first year of agreement. Data refers to research articles published in Springer Nature hybrid research journals with a UK-based corresponding author.
[2] Springer Nature data: Total OA agreement article downloads 2019-2025. Global usage for Springer OA agreement articles 2019-2025 194million+/ Global usage of Nature OA agreement articles 2023-2025 – 37milion+.
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Felicitas Kalb-Behrendt | External Communications | Springer Nature
felicitas.kalb-behrendt@springernature.com
