Making the Most of ONOS: Practical Guidance for India’s Research Community

Author: Aman Ganpatsingh

The Government of India’s One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) is a significant step towards democratising access to scholarly knowledge across the country. By enabling nationwide access to high-quality research literature, the initiative strengthens India’s research ecosystem and supports the country’s ambition to become a global leader in science and innovation.

As a participating publisher, Springer Nature is proud to support ONOS, helping unlock high-quality trusted research for millions of students, faculty members, and researchers across India’s universities and research institutions, supporting India’s continued rise on the global research stage.

India’s momentum was the focus of our Global Pulse report in 2025, which highlights the country as a top three global research contributor with rapidly growing high-impact output. As India’s research profile continues to strengthen, expanding access must be accompanied by efforts to build the skills, confidence and best practices needed to achieve high-quality publications. To support this goal, Springer Nature launched the ONOS Researcher Connect webinar series, a programme designed specifically for India’s researcher community. The series covers topics ranging from navigating research platforms and understanding research metrics to research ethics, responsible AI use, and scientific writing. Drawing on insights from nine sessions and participation from over 14,000 researchers across India, this case study highlights practical guidance for researchers at every stage of the research lifecycle.

About ONOS

Launched in 2025, ONOS provides nationwide access to over 13,000 scholarly journals from over 30 global publishers. In its first phase (to December 2027), more than 6,500 government universities, research centres, and higher education institutions across India benefit from full-text access for all their students, researchers, and faculty.

The programme also includes support for open access publishing. A centrally managed Article Processing Charge (APC) fund of ₹150 crore (approximately €18 million) per year enables eligible researchers to publish in 94 selected fully open access journals, helping expand the visibility and accessibility of Indian research.

Making the most of ONOS: Navigating the latest research

As highlighted in the Global Pulse report, India’s growing contribution to high-impact research makes staying current more important than ever. Through ONOS, researchers can access a wide range of Springer Nature content, including the Nature portfolio (with backfiles dating to 1997) as well as journals from Springer, Palgrave, Adis and other Nature-branded titles.

During the webinar series, experts shared practical strategies to help researchers navigate and use these resources effectively:
 

• Refine searches with targeted keywords: Using advanced search filters (such as subject, article types, and date ranges) can help quickly narrow broad results and surface the most relevant research.
• Set up alerts for journals and articles: Alerts ensure researchers receive notifications when new research is published in their field, helping them stay up to date.
• Engage with wider research communities: Platforms like our Researcher Communities, Springer Nature blogs like The Researcher’s Source, and newsletters like Nature Briefing provide additional perspectives on developments across disciplines and insights into life in research.

Strengthening research integrity and good practice

As India’s research ecosystem expands, maintaining high standards of research integrity is essential. Research integrity is not only about avoiding misconduct, it is fundamental to building trust, credibility, and long-term impact for scientific work.

Across the global research landscape, common concerns raised during publication review processes include:

• Image irregularities
• Data concerns
• Plagiarism
• Peer review manipulation
• Authorship disputes

To address these challenges, the webinar series emphasised key principles:
 

• Agree authorship early: Clarifying roles and contributions at the start of a project can prevent misunderstanding later.
• Cite responsibly and avoid plagiarism: Accurate citation and careful paraphrasing ensure that previous work is appropriately acknowledged.
• Maintain clear and transparent data records: Well documented methods datasets strengthen reproducibility and trust in research findings.
• Follow journal policies carefully: Reviewing author guidelines and ethical standards before submission helps ensure a smooth publication process.

How to write and publish scientific research effectively

Publishing research remains a key milestone in the academic journey. Several sessions in the series focused on helping researchers prepare manuscripts effectively and navigate the publishing process, including journal selection and the responsible use of AI in research workflow.
 

• Selecting the right journal: Matching your manuscript with the most appropriate journal is an important first step. Tools such as Springer Nature’s Journal Finder can help identify relevant journals based on your manuscript title, abstract, and keywords. Researchers should also review a journal’s aims, scope, and editorial guidelines, and check practical information such as policies and publication model – for example, some fully open access journals are included in ONOS, meaning you may be eligible for APC support.
• Write clearly and effectively: A well-structured manuscript helps communicate research more effectively. Clear organisation - from introduction and methods through to discussion and conclusions - ensures readers and reviewers can easily follow the research narrative.
• Use AI responsibly: Artificial Intelligence tools are increasingly used in research workflows. For example, to support language editing or summarisation. While these tools can improve efficiency, they should never replace original thinking, critical analysis, or ethical responsibility. Researchers should always follow the AI policies of their chosen journal and remain transparent about the tools used.

Increasing the reach and impact of research

As the Global Pulse explores, India’s growing share of highly cited and high-impact research reflects not only rising output but also increasing global engagement and influence.

To maximise the reach and impact of their work, researchers should consider:
 

• Enhancing discoverability: Publishing in well-indexed journals and using clear titles, abstracts and keywords helps ensure research reaches the widest possible audience.
• Monitoring research impact through multiple metrics: No single indicator (like Journal Impact Factor) can fully capture the influence of research, quality or impact. Considering a range of article-level metrics, including citations, usage statistics, and altmetrics, provides a more comprehensive view of how research is being read, shared, and applied.

Supporting researcher development in India

Springer Nature’s ONOS Researcher Connect webinar series, facilitated by our Account Development team in India and supported by expert speakers from across the organisation, has already engaged more than 14,000 researchers in India.

We noted in the Global Pulse report that India’s research landscape is dynamic and diverse, spanning leading research universities, emerging institutions, and specialised research centres. Initiatives that combine expanded access with targeted training and support play an important role in helping researchers navigate publishing pathways, strengthen research practices, and maximise the global visibility of their work.

Feedback from participants reflects the value of these efforts:

“Thank you so much for the nice initiative. You are the first publisher to conduct such training out of ONOS publishers. I am happy to see this wonderful initiative by Springer Nature to familiarize Researchers and Library professionals with your rich content.”

Recordings from all nine webinars are available on YouTube, and researchers can also join the conversation through our LinkedIn community to stay informed about future ONOS training and engagement opportunities.

Explore more insights into India’s growing global research impact in Springer Nature’s Global Pulse Report 2025.

Related content:

• India’s global research impact: What editors and publishers need to know

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