UK universities have recently agreed to a new, three-year open access publishing deal with Springer Nature, following a year-long negotiation led by Jisc. The deal meets the sector's requirements to expedite full and immediate open access in over 2,500 Springer Nature titles, including Nature, the Nature research journals, and the Palgrave portfolio, while also reducing costs for all institutions.
The new agreement also allows researchers and their institutions to meet research funders' open access requirements. The deal includes unlimited open access publishing in Springer and Palgrave hybrid journals, while open access publishing in Nature and the Nature research journals is subject to a cap. The deal also includes an opt-in fully open access framework, whereby APCs across Springer Nature's open access portfolio are discounted by 15%, with annual caps on APC increases in mature titles.
The UUK/Jisc content negotiation strategy group was responsible for talks with Springer Nature, and its chair, Professor Stephen Decent, praised the deal for further extending the reach and impact of UK research by providing open access publishing in 2,500 Springer Nature journals. However, he noted that a more inclusive and open research culture was required to achieve the goal of fully accessible open research.
Carolyn Honour, chief commercial officer, Springer Nature, expressed her satisfaction with the new agreement, which covers all Springer Nature journals for the first time. She said that the agreement opens up access to UK research and extends publishing opportunities to a broader range of institutions and disciplines. She also reaffirmed Springer Nature's commitment to open access and open science and its willingness to work transparently and extensively with global partners to drive progress towards this goal.
While an agreement has been reached in principle, final contract details will be drawn up over the coming weeks. The read and publish agreement covers Springer compact, the Nature research journals, Palgrave journals, and Nature reviews, and replaces two former agreements that expired on 31 December 2022. Springer Nature is the second largest publisher of UK research, behind Elsevier.
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