2017 - All Press Releases

Springer Nature is delivering on open access and calls for continued partnership

In four European countries, over 70% of Springer Nature authors now publish via gold open access


Monday 23rd October 2017 

Today the leading open access publisher Springer Nature announces that it has achieved a milestone in advancing discovery through open research, with over 70% of corresponding authors from four European countries now publishing via gold open access . This includes: 

-    Over 77% of corresponding authors based in the UK 
-    Over 90% of corresponding authors based in Sweden 
-    Over 84% of corresponding authors based in the Netherlands 
-    Over 73% of corresponding authors based in Austria 

This achievement has been made possible through a unique environment in these markets, with support from governments and institutions who back open access, funders who fund APCs, authors who are willing to publish via open access, and a publisher providing authors with a range of publishing options, making open access a reality.  Globally, 27% of all research published by Springer Nature is now published under an immediate gold open access model. Most of this is in pure OA journals but in the four countries above increased hybrid OA take-up means offsetting is occurring there while more generally more article growth is being funded outside of library budgets.

Steven Inchcoombe, Chief Publishing Officer at Springer Nature said: “Our ultimate aim is to advance discovery through driving the development of open access publishing and open research techniques.  Our history of innovation – from developing open access options for authors at all levels, to taking a risk by flipping some of our best-known journals to OA models - means that more authors than ever are taking up the opportunity to publish open access, without limiting their ability to choose where to publish. 

“We are now uniquely placed among publishers to show it is possible to ‘flip’ entire countries, not just journals. This means the research is immediately openly accessible to all who wish to read it, making the transition to open access a reality.” 
Steven Inchcoombe added: “We respect academic freedom and author choice and so continue to offer more traditional publishing alternatives, but we believe that benefits of open research for whole  academic community and the wider public means that ‘open’ needs to be driven forward, and we are committed to this. 

“Springer Nature is on a journey, from traditional publishing methods to open access, open research, and beyond. But we can’t succeed alone. We’re calling for the research community, from funders to institutions, authors and editors to join us in making that happen.” 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Springer Nature is home to some of the industry leaders in open access including Nature Research, BMC, Springer and Palgrave Macmillan, offering a total of:
•    Over 630 fully open access journals
•    Over 1800 Springer Open Choice (hybrid) journals.


Contact:

Amy Bourke-Waite
Communications Director, Open Research
Springer Nature
M 07375 089 729
amy.bourke-waite@biomedcentral.com 

About Springer Nature
Springer Nature advances discovery by publishing robust and insightful research, supporting the development of new areas of knowledge, making ideas and information accessible around the world, and leading the way on open access. Key to this is our ability to provide the best possible service to the whole research community: helping authors to share their discoveries; enabling researchers to find, access and understand the work of others; supporting librarians and institutions with innovations in technology and data; and providing quality publishing support to societies.

As a research publisher, Springer Nature is home to trusted brands including Springer, Nature Research, BioMed Central, Palgrave Macmillan and Scientific American. Springer Nature is also a leading educational and professional publisher, providing quality content through a range of innovative platforms, products and services. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals and resources reach millions of people. For more information, please visit springernature.com and @SpringerNature.

[1] These authors are publishing either in fully open access journals, through Springer Open Choice (hybrid) journals, or via Springer Compact agreements which combine open access publishing and access to subscription content.