Two decades ago, few saw open access (OA) as a primary method of publishing, few dreamed of making OA mainstream, Springer Nature was the exception. We envisioned a future where science and research is accessible and open to everyone, wherever they may be in the world. A future, where access to knowledge and learning are feasible to anyone, where discovery is our main drive, and research can be used and shared openly, leading to further scientific breakthroughs through collaboration. Now, we are proud to share with you that we have come closer to our vision of a fully OA future by reaching the major milestone of publishing one million gold OA articles. 

Starting with BMC, back in 1998, when it launched OA publishing, and continuing with Springer Compact agreements in 2015, a precursor of today’s Transformative Agreements, we have continuously pushed forward innovations in OA. Recently, we've further evolved our offerings by introducing Transformative Journals and OA options in Nature and other selective titles.

Being the first publisher to achieve the publication of one million gold OA articles, has fueled our mission to keep pushing for openness and extend its reach beyond OA, to a future in which all science is open and unrestricted access is granted to all research outputs. 

We invite you to join us as we look back at our journey so far and discuss our plans for the future, through videos, interviews and other resources. 

Hear from some of our authors

A look back at our journey

Celebrating the milestones

Key moments

Overcoming hurdles

Discover open access at Springer Nature