A new regional white paper from Springer Nature highlights the growing international impact of China’s open access (OA) research, particularly in the Global South.
The report, Open for Impact: China’s Gold Open Access Boosting Global Innovation and Supporting the Global South, shows that by July 2025, nearly 40% of citations to China’s 2022 gold OA articles originated outside the country. According to the study, this reflects how OA is facilitating broader knowledge sharing and access to research worldwide, with notable uptake among researchers in the Global South.
By mid‑2025, China’s 2022 gold OA articles had generated more than 1.53 million citations from researchers outside China, including over 742,000 citations from the Global South. These findings underscore the increasing international engagement with Chinese research and the role of OA in supporting global knowledge exchange.
Additional data from the report indicates:
• Usage and impact advantage: OA articles published in Springer Nature’s hybrid journals received nearly twice as many citations and more than four times as many downloads in the Global South compared with non‑OA articles.
• Collaboration growth: Co‑authored articles between China and the Global South continue to rise, with research linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals—such as health, energy, climate, and food—among the most cited in the region.
Arnout Jacobs, President of Greater China at Springer Nature, stated that the findings provide evidence of how gold OA is increasing the visibility, reach, and impact of research from China. He noted that nearly 40% of citations to China’s 2022 gold OA articles now come from outside the country, and that strong engagement from researchers in the Global South demonstrates how OA supports international knowledge sharing, wider access to research, and global scientific collaboration.
The white paper draws on publication and citation data from Dimensions, Altmetric data, and other sources to examine the growth, reach, and impact of China’s gold OA research.
Click here to read the original press release.
