STAY CURIOUS

For Springer Nature, 2025 was a year defined by growth, innovation, and a focus on advancing research and learning for the benefit of society.  

Our Annual Report provides an opportunity to reflect on our progress, recognise what working in close partnership with our communities helped us to achieve, and to be clear about where we are headed.   

With global research outputs continuing to increase, the report shows how we are ensuring we continue to meet community expectations around openness, speed and integrity so that science can be trusted and how our responsibility as a publisher remains steadfast - to help research be used more and travel further, to protect the integrity of the scholarly record, and to invest for the long term in ways that benefit the research community.  

Partnering to open up research, at scale  

Open access (OA) remains central to how we support researchers and funders, and sustainable progress at scale has only been possible through partnership. Working with libraries, funders and institutions worldwide allows us to expand OA in ways that reflect regional needs.  

In 2025, more than 53% of the primary research articles we published were OA, reflecting continued momentum towards a more open scholarly record. This progress is happening at significant scale. Submissions grew by more than 30% to 3.1 million, with 539,000 primary research articles published across disciplines. Managing that growth while maintaining quality matters more than ever.  

The impact of openness is clear in how research is used. Last year, our articles and book chapters were downloaded 5.6 billion times, an increase of over 50% on 2024. This included more than 860 million downloads of content related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  

Looking ahead, our focus remains on expanding OA in ways that are sustainable and inclusive. This includes growing our global network of TAs, supporting librarians through the transition to OA, continuing to provide funding support where needed, and working with partners to enable access across regions and institutions.  

Partnering to support quality at scale  

We continue to take a researcher‑led approach to technology, investing in AI‑assisted tools developed in partnership with the research community to deliver value at the point of need.  

Central to this is Snapp, our proprietary article processing platform. With more than half our journals now using Snapp, it is provding a more consistent, transparent and efficient publishing experience, while allowing us to embed AI‑enabled tools across screening and editorial workflows. Since launch, it has supported 7 million authors, processed 3.7 million submissions and published over 600,000 articles.  

We apply the same approach beyond research publishing. In education, Macmillan Education Everywhere now supports 3.2 million active users, while in health our Medbee app is used by more than 40,000 doctors – with technology designed to deliver practical value where it is needed most.  

Used responsibly, AI helps us operate at scale and, combined with editorial expertise, ensures quality, accountability and rigour. 

Partnering to embed trust  

However, the value of publishing is measured not only in volume or usage, but in trust. I am proud that in 2025, authors, editors and peer reviewers continued to rate their experience with Springer Nature as excellent or good, reflecting the importance of reliable processes and collaboration in a changing ecosystem.  

Trust also depends on people. That is why we increased our dedicated global research integrity team to 75 specialists and continue to apply our “human in the loop” principle across publishing.  

That trust is also reflected in impact. The average number of citations per article rose by 14% compared with 2023, underlining how greater visibility and reach translate into meaningful engagement with research.  

We continue to work with the community to deliver free training in best practice, provide skills development through Nature Masterclasses, and support young doctors via Springer Medizin digital training programmes.  

Looking ahead: responsible growth, shared ambition  

While our Annual Report reflects a strong year, our focus is firmly on the future.  

We will continue to invest in OA, in technologies that improve the publishing experience, and in systems that protect the integrity of the scholarly record. We will also continue to act as a responsible business – building on progress in reducing carbon emissions by 50% since 2019, supporting charitable partnerships, and fostering a culture where colleagues can thrive.  

Most importantly, we will keep listening to the communities we serve. The challenges facing research will not be solved by any one organisation alone. Progress depends on partnership – and on a shared commitment to openness, rigour and trust.