Reflections on 25 Years in Open Access: From niche model to publishing standard

This piece was originally published by Research Information on 24th October 2025. Syndicated here with permission

Author: Carrie Webster

VP Open Access

When I first stepped into the world of open access (OA) publishing the landscape looked very different.  I was one of the early employees at the new ‘startup’ BioMed Central (BMC) (the first commercial OA publisher) in the early 2000’s, and at that time, OA was very much a fringe concept. Whilst OA has a longer history than 25 years – the first major OA repository for preprints was launched in 1991 (arXiv) – in the early 2000’s OA was still a model very much in its infancy and we spent a lot of time explaining what it was, advocating for its value, and building awareness. Whilst people ‘got’ the ethos of OA and the benefits for researchers/ research, it was met with scepticism. Was it vanity publishing? Could OA be scalable, could it be trusted?

I still remember to this day the whiteboard we had in the office where we would track article submissions – reaching 30 felt like such a milestone! The growth in OA and awareness started to change in the early 2000s with initiatives such as The Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) which formally defined OA and called for global action and The Bethesda Statement and Berlin Declaration which further solidified OA principles and in 2005 when the Wellcome Trust introduced its OA policy with funding.Support for the new model still took a while. In 2004, globally the percentage of OA articles was under 4% (31,486 OA articles) of research output for that year, and now the market is at around 50% (48.1%) with around 1.4million+ OA papers published in 2024 [1]  — a milestone that reflects not just a shift in publishing models, but a transformation in how the world values and shares research. For me, this isn’t just a statistic. It’s a moment to reflect on the journey, the progress we’ve made – as a community - and the work still ahead.

A Snapshot of Progress

Today, OA is no longer a niche initiative — it’s the dominant publishing model. It is no longer a fringe concept it is a reality and the future of publishing. It is also not just about access to articles. It’s part of a broader shift toward open science: making all parts of the research lifecycle — from data to methods to peer review — more transparent, reusable, and impactful.

The 50% OA milestone in the market, is a powerful signal of this transformation. It shows that a sustainable and effective OA transition is possible — but it also reminds us that there’s no single path to get there. Instead, it takes a combination of levers, collaboration, and adaptability.

Our latest OA report offers a compelling view of the momentum behind OA. Articles published in fully OA journals at Springer Nature receive an average of 6.3 citations—higher than those from mixed-model or other pure OA publishers. Downloads of OA book and journal content rose by over 31% in 2024, reflecting growing engagement across disciplines and regions.

What’s particularly encouraging is the global reach. Downloads of OA content increased by 21% in lower-middle-income countries and 14% in low-income countries. These figures highlight the expanding accessibility of research and the growing participation of researchers worldwide in the OA ecosystem.

The growth of our OA portfolio has also been significant. Sixty-eight new fully OA journals were launched last year, and our full OA portfolio now accounts for 73% of our OA primary research output. We saw a 31% increase in OA articles published, with particularly strong growth in India—a sign of the increasing demand for open publishing options in emerging research economies.

Scaling through collaboration

Transformative agreements (TAs) have been one of the most effective tools for scaling OA. They provide a structured, scalable way to support researchers and institutions in making the transition.

We have seen great growth in TAs over the last ten years, starting within Europe, but quickly expanding globally - our signed agreements including US, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, Egypt, Portugal, Greece, Japan and Australia.

As our latest OA report has shown, 82% of OA articles in our hybrid journals were published via TAs in 2024, with some countries seeing up to 70% OA uptake in the first year of their agreements. In South Africa and Slovenia, OA publishing in the humanities and social sciences increased by over 600% in the first year of their agreements — a powerful example of how TAs can support OA publishing across disciplines.

While TAs have no doubt accelerated the shift to OA, they do come with challenges. The global transition does remains uneven, ensuring equity is critical—particularly for researchers in underfunded regions—and disciplinary imbalances can limit impact. TAs should not be seen as a one size fits all approach, they need to be tailored to reflect local contexts and funding structures and ensure that they support that region with the pace and scale of a transition that works for them.

In Japan, our TA expanded from 10 to 60 universities in just two years, resulting in over 2,400 OA articles. In the US, new partnerships are helping to accelerate uptake. These kinds of results show what’s possible when adaptation is put front and centre and when funders, institutions, and publishers work together.

Equity remains a key focus

Despite great progress within OA, it would amiss to not note that disparities in funding, infrastructure, and support still persist. These all have an impact on the equity of OA and are a longer thread to address. Whilst strong steps have been taken in terms of waivers, adaptation of models such as TAs and experimentation with regional pricing models. And the growth of OA globally demonstrates this is having some positive impact, they’re not enough on their own

A truly equitable OA future will require ongoing collaboration across the research ecosystem — publishers, funders, institutions, and researchers — to ensure that all voices can be heard and all research can be shared.

Infrastructure and the ecosystem  

OA continues to evolve, and with it, the infrastructure that supports scholarly publishing must evolve too. Technology and innovation are a critical part of this next phase.

At Springer Nature, we’re investing heavily in technology—over €470 million since 2021—to deliver faster, smarter, and more integrated experiences for researchers, reviewers, and editors. From launching Snapp, our peer review platform, to acquiring protocols.io and expanding early sharing tools, we continue to invest in and develop a support system for authors to support, and scale up, for the growth in OA publishing.

Innovation, however, must go hand in hand with trust and always with a human at the centre. OA must also mean open, reliable, and high-quality research. That includes investing in research integrity, peer review, transparency and AI-powered tools that support authors and reviewers alike– as maintaining trust in science has never been more important.

The work ahead – collaboration is key

Reaching over 50% OA across the sector is a milestone—but it’s not the finish line. The path to the next 50% will be faster, not just because of the infrastructure we’ve built, but because of the collective experience we’ve gained. Yet, ensuring the path to OA is sustainable and scalable for everyone, requires more than infrastructure—it demands genuine collaboration and adaptability.

Every country, institution, and community has its own pace, priorities, and challenges. It is not about a top-down approach and expecting everyone to join that same path, it is about working with our customers, with our communities, with regional funders and institutions and ensuring that what is put in place is right for them.

We are all working towards the same goal, but growth in OA is about recognising that each region is on a different journey to that same destination.

Final thoughts

OA has been part of my (and Springer Nature’s) DNA for over 20 years. When BMC was acquired by Springer Nature it felt like a great validation for what we were doing - OA was something worth investing in and was going to be viable and scalable. Moving into Springer Nature and being part of some of the great OA milestones we have had - flipping Nature Communications to OA, signing the first ever TA in 2015, reaching our 50% of primary research articles published OA  - we’ve consistently pushed boundaries and worked with our community to ensure that all those who want to publish OA and benefit from the reach and engagement it brings, can do so. These milestones weren’t just strategic—they were driven by a belief in the power of openness to accelerate discovery and solve global challenges.

After more than two decades in this space, I’m more convinced than ever that OA is not just the future of publishing — it’s the foundation for a more connected, collaborative, and impactful research ecosystem. Research has a pivotal role to play in addressing the most pressing issues facing society—from climate change to public health to social equity. Ensuring that research is accessible, reusable, and built upon is essential to getting it into the hands of those who can act on it.

The journey to increased OA share across the market, has shown that transformation is possible when we work together, stay flexible, and keep equity at the centre. As the theme of this year’s B17 conference reminded us, transformation rests on the shoulders of many — not the few.

[1] This data has been pulled from Web of Science InCites and reflects both article and reviews across fully OA and hybrid OA journals.