New data from Springer Nature reveals the significant impact of Transformative Agreements (TAs) in driving the transition to open access (OA) across various disciplines. The findings demonstrate that OA research published in Springer Nature's hybrid journals by authors affiliated with institutions participating in a TA experienced three times faster growth compared to research published under "author choice" by institutions not part of a TA.
Since 2017, the increasing number of agreements reached by Springer Nature has resulted in a remarkable 40% growth in OA content published within its hybrid portfolio. TAs have played a critical role in facilitating OA publication, particularly in the humanities and social sciences (HSS), where over 90% of HSS OA content in hybrid journals is now published through TAs, surpassing the growth rate of HSS OA content not published via a TA.
The benefits of OA publication through TAs are evident across all disciplines, providing authors with increased usage, visibility, and immediate accessibility of their research. Notably, OA articles experience 6 times more downloads, 1.6 times more citations, and 4.9 times more altmetric attention.
Carrie Webster, VP Open Access at Springer Nature, emphasized the pivotal role of research in addressing global challenges and the importance of enabling all researchers to publish and benefit from OA. TAs are considered the most influential lever for achieving this goal, facilitating a fast, sustainable, and successful shift to OA on a global scale, ensuring that research is accessible, reusable, and readily available for addressing pressing societal issues.
Springer Nature currently has over 40 TAs worldwide, including recent national agreements with Cyprus, Denmark, and Slovakia, as well as an institutional agreement with CINVESTAV in Mexico. These agreements collectively support researchers from more than 3,500 institutions globally. As a publisher, Springer Nature offers researchers a comprehensive and diverse portfolio for publication, with its fully OA portfolio boasting the highest number of total citations among all publishers. Additionally, researchers benefit from 5 times more downloads compared to titles from other fully OA publishers. Springer Nature remains committed to advancing open science and driving the opening up of research through the development of new journals, books, and solutions, aiming to serve the research community and foster the growth of open access.
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