Your partner in the transformation to OA

Succeeding in a transformative world

Open Access (OA) is a major force reshaping the way that researchers communicate, collaborate and advance the pace and quality of discovery. Open Access and open research techniques have proven to have tangible and measurable benefits on scientific research and enable open science. Springer Nature has committed to transformative publishing and to supporting a sustainable route to Open Access. 

Our vision and mission: supporting your goals

At Springer Nature, our aim is to advance scientific discovery by publishing robust and insightful research, supporting the development of new areas of knowledge and making ideas and information accessible around the world.

We have been leading in Open Access publishing for nearly twenty years. It is firmly embedded in our publishing strategy and over the years we have developed innovative and sustainable agreements with governments, institutions and funders to further this publishing model. We have a strong track record of introducing OA options to subscription journals (over 1900 to date) and  as part of our commitment to open science we strongly advocate research transparency and reproducibility by supporting and enabling the publication of data, materials and methodology.

We also publish almost 600 fully OA journals, including Nature Communications, the most cited OA journal, and Scientific Reports, one of the world’s largest OA journals, and so are ideally placed to support and enhance your own journal strategy and secure the long-term success of your publication. When you partner with Springer Nature, authors who are mandated to publish OA by their (national) funders will continue to be able to select your journal for publication.

A personalised approach

One of Springer Nature’s key strengths in working with society partners is our tailored approach. As the business of academic publishing has become increasingly international, maintaining personal relationships and continuity in a publishing partnership is now more important than ever. Our portfolio covers the whole spectrum of research fields, so we know that no two societies or journals are the same. Individual attention and personalised approaches are especially important when we think about OA and which publishing model may be best for your journal and community.

As a partner society, you will work with a dedicated publishing editor who will be a champion for your publication and will serve as the primary point of contact for your society and editors, as well as the main liaison between the different departments at Springer Nature. The publishing editor’s main role is to help drive the development of your journal by working with the editor-in-chief and wider editorial board to support and develop the journal in conjunction with the primary objectives of your society.

Together with colleagues from marketing, production and sales, your publishing editor will help you monitor competition, track current trends in publishing, conduct competitive analysis, and carry out author satisfaction measurements to ensure the holistic development of your journal.

More reasons to partner with us:

Speed of dissemination and maximising access

Maximising the reach and impact of your content while allowing you to maintain control of your editorial policy is central to our  publishing goals. By taking full advantage of the technology available at Springer Nature we can ensure far-reaching exposure for your journal, whether this is through discovery services, SEO optimization, or tools for content sharing, such as SharedIt. We continuously refine and improve our production processes and are proud that the average time from article acceptance to publication is now only 14 days.

Author and society satisfaction

Our commitment to scientific and scholarly advancement means supporting societies like yours in the high-quality and timely publication of your journal. For us this means enabling authors to share and promote their discoveries, and helping researchers to find, access, and share the work of others. We also lead on issues and matters of importance to researchers, funders, and policy makers. For example, our journals are completely compliant with access requirements of funders’ mandates, including NIH and HHMI.

Springer Nature publishes content covering all fields of research, so we know that each community has different needs. Your goal is to attract high-quality papers and your authors and journal will benefit from our creative strategies that assist in developing new content, improving its discoverability, and allowing as many people to access it as possible. When you work with Springer Nature, you will find that our approach ensures high levels of author satisfaction.

Your society, editors-in-chief and editorial boards will have the opportunity to discuss the strategy of your journal with your publishing editor at editorial board meetings and strategy retreats where we specifically focus on the future success of our society partner journals.

Financial benefits

Springer Nature is committed to growing the quantity and quality of your journal content and translating these developments into revenue. As open access business models become increasingly important, we are ideally positioned to develop a sustainable business model for your journal, and to ensure the financial security of your society for years to come. By partnering with a large, international publisher you will benefit from economies of scale, while still receiving bespoke and individual attention. We recognise that each community has different needs and our established monitoring and tracking systems will allow us to report on your journal’s success and progress and develop strategies for future growth.  

Seamless transition

Even a change for the better can be stressful. Springer Nature goes the extra mile to minimize the impact of transitioning your journal to us. Our dedicated, multi-disciplinary Transition Management Team oversees the complete transition of your journal into our programme all the way through to April of the first year of publication. We follow the guidelines from the NISO/Transfer Code of Practice and work closely with you throughout the whole process. Staff from all relevant departments worldwide, including editorial, production, sales, operations, abstracting and indexing, customer service, and fulfillment, are available to help. 

To inquire about a potential partnership with Springer Nature, please contact society.partnerships@springernature.com.