Open science

About open science

We see the rise of open science in all its manifestations as one of the major forces reshaping the way that researchers communicate and collaborate to advance the pace and quality of discovery.

Springer Nature is committed to the sustainable drive towards open science. We offer researchers, institutions and their funders open access (OA) options for journals, books and sharing research data, code and protocols. We believe gold OA publication offers the simplest most open and most sustainable route to OA and open science.

For over twenty years, since BMC first pioneered an open access publishing model, openness and innovation have been at the heart of our business, with open science extending to all disciplines, including the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Today, we publish the world’s most significant open access portfolio.

Pushing industry standards forward

We keep our open access policies under constant review, while using a transparent approach to facilitating open science through data services, collaboration tools and public accessibility and reuse. 

By switching Nature Communications to a fully open access model in 2014, we led the way in creating options for researchers looking to publish in high quality, multidisciplinary open access journals. To promote the publication of reproducible research and support the sharing of data, in 2016 Springer Nature became the first publisher to introduce a standardised, common framework of research data policies for its scholarly journals. 

Springer Nature also provides Research Data Support, an optional service available to researchers who have datasets they want to share, and make citable and findable. We provide a secure portal for data upload, and data and metadata are curated and improved by professional Research Data Editors.  

These are just two of a number of Springer Nature activities to help ensure that the data at the heart of scholarly research are appropriately archived and, where possible, widely accessible.

Find out more: Research Data Support | Research data policy types


Publishing open access offers a number of benefits

How can I publish my work open access?

As the author of a research article or book, you have the ability to ensure that your research can be accessed and used by the widest possible audience. Springer Nature supports immediate gold OA as the most open, least restrictive form of OA: authors can choose to publish their research article in a fully OA journal, a hybrid or transformative journal, or as an OA book or OA chapter.

Alternatively, where articles, books or chapters are published via the subscription route, Springer Nature allows authors to archive the accepted version of their manuscript on their own personal website or their funder’s or institution’s repository, for public release after an embargo period (green OA). Find out more.

Why should I publish OA?

Increased citation and usage: Studies have shown that open access articles are viewed and cited more often than articles behind a paywall.

Wider collaboration: Open access publications and data enable researchers to carry out collaborative research on a global scale.
Greater public engagement: Content is available to those who can't access subscription content.Faster impact: With Creative Commons licences, researchers are empowered to build on existing research quickly.
Increased interdisciplinary conversation: Open access journals that cross multiple disciplines help researchers connect more easily and provide greater visibility of their research.Compliance with open access mandates: Open access journals and books comply with major funding policies internationally.