Springer Nature in 'open access journey' appeal

Springer Nature is calling on the research community to join it on a 'journey to open access, open research and beyond'.

The publisher says it has achieved a milestone in advancing discovery through open research, with more than 70 per cent of corresponding authors from four European countries now publishing via gold open access.

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

This includes:

• 77 per cent of corresponding authors based in the UK;
• 90 per cent of corresponding authors based in Sweden;
• 84 per cent of corresponding authors based in the Netherlands; and
• 73 per cent of corresponding authors based in Austria.

Springer says this 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 per cent of all research published by Springer Nature is now published under an immediate gold open access model. 

Steven Inchcoombe, chief publishing officer, 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.'

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.'