Gold open access in the UK

A Springer Nature case study

17 May 2018

In 2012, the Finch group brought stakeholders together to collaborate in the development of the UK’s open access (OA) policy. This resulted in a bold yet sustainable policy which, in Springer Nature’s case, has led to a significant transition to OA in the UK.

In the five years since Finch, we have published nearly 28,000 gold OA articles with a UK corresponding author. In total, this represents a 174% increase in gold OA Springer Nature articles from 2013 to 2017.

While the UK was already a leader in OA before the Finch report in 2012, this report shows the importance of having partnerships across the research community to make a successful transition to OA. When we change the system with all participants adapting – governments, funding bodies, institutions, authors, and publishers – we see real progress in advancing open research.

Gold open access in the UK: Springer Nature's transition explores our experience and the growth of OA in the UK at Springer Nature, examining the underpinning circumstances and contributing factors based on funder, institution, researcher, and publisher initiatives. 

Springer Nature's transition

Rapid growth in open access at Springer Nature

Over the five years that followed the Finch report, the proportion of all Springer Nature articles published via the gold OA route increased to 30%, but gold OA uptake among UK-authored Springer Nature articles rose even more dramatically to reach 77% in 2017. This rapid increase in gold OA uptake, combined with growth in the volume of our UK-authored articles between 2013 and 2017, resulted in a rising number of gold OA Springer Nature articles with UK corresponding authors published each year.

 Gold OA in the UK - growth in total OA articles © Springer Nature

The role of hybrid journals

The rapid growth in the number and proportion of Springer Nature UK articles published via the gold OA route has been driven by strong uptake of both our fully OA and hybrid OA journals. Hybrid journals have played a key role in this transition and demonstrate the impact that the UK Springer Compact agreement has had on bringing about a transition to OA for hybrid authors.


Gold OA in the UK - the role of hybrid journals © Springer Nature

Bringing OA to more disciplines

Research funding varies significantly by discipline, and this can affect authors’ ability to publish via the gold OA route, particularly if they do not have access to dedicated OA funds for APCs. Interestingly at Springer Nature, however, we are seeing an increasingly high level of gold OA in a number of disciplines that do not traditionally publish large numbers of articles via gold OA.


Gold OA in the UK - expanding OA to more disciplines © Springer Nature

Partnerships and collaboration are key factors

Overall, growth in Springer Nature OA publications from the UK has been made possible by a collaborative environment, with support from a government and institutions that back OA, funders who have developed policies in support of OA and provided the funds necessary for article processing charges (APCs), authors who are willing to publish via OA, and a publisher providing authors with a range of publishing options.

The Springer Compact agreement with the UK has played an important role in increasing the volume of OA article publications. In its first full year, the agreement saw in excess of 3,000 articles made OA, and UK publications made OA via Compact have continued to grow significantly, rising by over 20% in 2017.

Our commitment to open research

We continue to work with all stakeholders to support the transition to OA, and we call upon funders, institutions, researchers and publishers to join us in ensuring the benefits of open research are available to all.

We are on a journey: we see the rise of open research 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. As partners with the research community in this enterprise, we will continue to play a strong and progressive role in enabling the community to take full advantage of all that open research offers, including OA books, open data and open peer review. 

To achieve this transition, we are calling for a continued focus on collaboration from funders, institutions, researchers and publishers, and continued support for gold OA funding.

By the numbers

  • 89%

    Increase in Springer Nature articles published in fully OA journals (UK, 2013-2017)

  • 463%

    Increase in Springer Nature articles published OA in hybrid journals (UK, 2013-2017)

  • 600+

    Springer Nature fully OA journals

  • 1,900+

    Hybrid Springer Nature journals offering gold OA

Read the case study and view the infographic

Content includes:

  • Where are we now? Gold OA in the UK after Finch
  • Choosing the gold route
  • Supporting the transition to OA
  • The impact of gold
  • An open future

“While the UK was already a leader in OA before the Finch report in 2012, this report shows the importance of having partnerships across the research community to make a successful transition to OA. When we change the system with all participants adapting – governments, funding bodies, institutions, authors, and publishers – we see real progress in advancing open research."

Steven Inchcoombe,

Chief Publishing Officer,

Springer Nature

Steven Inchcoombe

Steven Inchcoombe