Open access agreement for Egypt

Information for authors

If you are a corresponding author affiliated with a participating Egyptian institution, you may be eligible to publish open access (OA) in Springer Nature's portfolio of journals with fees covered under a transformative agreement plus fully OA agreement. 

This agreement will cover all the public, private and national universities, as well as the research centers related to the ministry of higher education and scientific research and all other governmental ministries in Egypt. 

Author webinar: All you need to know about publishing OA with fees covered by STDF & EKB

This webinar will provide insights into the entire process an author undergoes when publishing under the STDF & EKB agreement—from submission to publication. There will also be a dedicated segment in this session, devoted to offering valuable tips and tricks on crafting a successful paper for publication. 

Find out more

Participating institutions
(PDF, 191.05 KB)

More than 150 Egyptian institutions are participating in the transformative agreement between Springer Nature and Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in cooperation with Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB). This means, from 01 January 2022, corresponding authors* affiliated with these institutions are eligible to publish their articles OA with fees covered if a majority of the research is carried out at a participating Egyptian institution. The agreement is a transformative agreement plus fully OA agreement, and includes journals across the Springer Nature portfolio.

In addition, you can enjoy full access to all Springer, Palgrave, Academic Journals and Adis subscription journal content. Established by Science, Technology & Innovation Funding Authority (STDF) in cooperation with Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB), this agreement will run through 31 December 2025.


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What authors need to know

  • You must be the corresponding author* of the article.
  • Article types eligible under this agreement are: Original Paper, Review Paper, Brief Communication, Continuing Education.
  • You must identify yourself during the author identification process (you will be asked to do this once your article has been accepted for publication). The institution selected during this process should be your primary affiliation, as this is the institution that STDF and EKB will refer to in order to verify your eligibility.
  • The copyright remains with you: open access articles in both Springer Nature hybrid and fully OA journals are published under the liberal Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international (CC BY) license. You are free to share and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
  • You must be affiliated with a participating Egyptian institution.
  • You must explicitly state your primary affiliation in the published manuscript, which is the Egyptian institution at which the bulk of the research for the article was conducted.
  • Your article(s) accepted for publication must have a publication date of 01 January 2022 or later in order to be covered by the agreement.
  • Open Access Funding is subject to STDF/EKB’s review of eligibility and approval. For more details, please contact OAsupport@stdf.eg

*Acting as main contact for Springer Nature correspondence after editorial acceptance.

Author guide

Author guide, English
(PDF, 3.26 MB)
Author guide, Arabic
(PDF, 9.67 MB)

Publishing in a hybrid journal

Hybrid journals are subscription journals that offer OA at the article level, allowing authors to make individual articles free for anyone to read, share and re-use.

Our study shows that there is a clear advantage in reach and impact for articles published OA in hybrid journals compared to non-OA articles in the same journals. Learn more about hybrid usage per discipline here.

Publishing in a fully OA journal

Fully open access journals allow authors to make their research available online immediately for anyone to read, share and re-use, without subscription.

FAQs

Who is considered the corresponding author?

The corresponding author is defined as the person who handles the manuscript and correspondence during the publication process – from manuscript correction and proof reading, to handling the revisions and re-submission of revised manuscripts up to the acceptance of the manuscripts. 

The corresponding author has the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors in all matters pertaining to publication of the manuscript including supplementary material. They are also responsible for obtaining such agreements and for informing the co-authors of the manuscript’s status throughout the submission, review and publication process. In addition, the corresponding author acts as the point of contact for any enquiries after the paper is published.

Both the corresponding author and the first author must be affiliated to an Egyptian institution (authors can have multiple affiliations but cannot have any foreign affiliations). Other co-authors can have foreign affiliations.

How can I make sure my article is eligible?

When you submit, use at least one of the below methods of recognition.

Agreement author identification img © Springer Nature

Upon acceptance of your article, you'll also be prompted to provide your institutional affiliation. Open Access Funding is subject to STDF/EKB’s review of eligibility and approval. For more details, please contact OAsupport@stdf.eg.

How do I know if my article has been approved?

STDF in cooperation with EKB will approve your article's eligibility based on your institutional affiliation, article type and journal name.

Once your article is approved by STDF and EKB, you will be notified by email and your article will proceed to publication.

Which article types are covered by this agreement?

  • OriginalPaper#: Standard article, usually presenting new results; articles published under this article type may also be referred to as Original Research, Original Article, Original Paper or Research Paper
  • ReviewPaper: Standard article, interpreting previously published results
  • BriefCommunication: Short article submitted for rapid publication that exhibits the same structure as a standard article.
  • ContinuingEducation: Article forming integral part of further education (usually medical).

#When publishing in a Nature Portfolio journal, Original Paper is the only applicable article type.

How do I know if my article is eligible?

The institutions’ list on this page provides more details about participating institutions that are eligible for funding. There is no annual limit as to how many articles each author could publish with fees covered by the agreement. Open Access Funding is subject to STDF/EKB’s review of eligibility and approval. For more details, please contact OAsupport@stdf.eg.

Who can I contact for more information? 

For more details, please email OAsupport@stdf.eg. If you need further assistance, please email us at oa.verification@springernature.com.

What are the key steps for OA publishing under this agreement? 

Authors should go through the submission process as per usual. Identification for publishing under this agreement begins only after editorial acceptance. 

  • Step 1: Article is accepted for publication in a hybrid or fully OA journal. The corresponding author receives an email invitation to complete the publication process for their article.
  • Step 2: Authors identify themselves by one of three data elements: i) selected institution, ii) institutional email, iii) location
  • Step 3: For articles that have been identified as eligible to be covered by this agreement, the corresponding author will be presented with confirmation that they can publish OA with their fees covered.
  • Step 4: The author is asked to agree to an OA creative commons license (CC BY for the majority of Springer Nature journals) on behalf of all co-authors.
  • Step 5: Approver will strive and take all necessary steps to accept publication within 3 working days to ensure rapid publication for authors. Approver may require additional information from authors to finalize approval process and will accordingly contact authors directly.

How does the Nature waiver programme for authors from low-income and lower-middle income countries complement this agreement?

In January 2023, Nature announced support for authors from over 70 countries to publish open access. The Nature waiver programme for authors from low-income and lower-middle income countries only applies to the highly selective Nature Portfolio transformative journals. Scientific Reports and Nature Communications are not included. 

This open access agreement for Egypt on the other hand, covers around 2,400 journals across different research fields and disciplines. Both fully OA and hybrid journals across the Springer Nature portfolio such as Scientific Reports and Nature Communications are included.