Facilitating the transition towards open access (OA) publishing

Author: Saskia Hoving

After more than 20 years, the open access (OA) transition is not only taking hold but accelerating. Librarians have questions. And because Springer Nature — through transformative agreements (TAs) and other initiatives — is helping drive that transformation, we can also be a source of answers for those librarians. This blog post explores Springer Nature’s initiatives to make the OA transition easier for librarians and their users, and to support the library’s journey towards OA.

OA evolution: Paving the way for scholarly freedom

The journey towards OA involves various initiatives aimed at making scholarly content more accessible for everyone. These initiatives include:

• Transformative agreements (TAs): TAs combine access to subscription content (traditional or hybrid journals) with funding for researchers to publish their own work OA. TAs not only maximise access for library users, but also help drive the overall transformation towards OA, helping speed up the point at which more currently hybrid journals can transform into fully OA journals. And as the primary point of contact between an institution and its researchers on one hand and Springer Nature on the other, the library and librarians play a pivotal role in making all this possible. The OA transition willfoster collaboration, and drive innovation across academic and research communities.
• Waivers: In addition to TAs, Springer Nature has taken proactive steps to support authors who may encounter financial obstacles when publishing their research open access. These steps include the implementation of waivers and discounts, which play a crucial role in ensuring that high-quality research from diverse geographic and demographic backgrounds can be made openly accessible. By offering these waivers, Springer Nature aims to foster inclusivity and in research publishing, thereby enabling a wider range of researchers to contribute to the global body of knowledge. This commitment reflects our dedication to promoting accessibility and diversity within the academic community.
• Protocols.io: Streamlining Research Protocols: In 2023, Springer Nature acquired Protocols.io, a leading platform for sharing and managing research protocols which plays a vital role in the OA ecosystem. By enabling researchers to openly share their experimental protocols, Protocols.io fosters reproducibility in scientific research, and empowers you to organize protocols, collaborate seamlessly, and get recognition for method development.
• Springer Nature Experiments: By bringing together the Springer Nature Protocols and Methods portfolios, Springer Nature Experiments serves as a collaborative platform for sharing scientific protocols and experimental insights, allowing users to efficiently search across 60,000 available protocols and methods. This represents a pivotal advancement in scientific collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation, offering researchers and scientists an invaluable resource to drive forward scientific discovery.

Pioneering OA with transformative agreements

Through various initiatives and insights, Springer Nature has empowered librarians and academic institutions to embrace and promote OA. We have been at the forefront of supporting libraries in their transition to OA since its inception. The changing role of the library in the context of OA publishing is a critical aspect of this support system.

Read more about how librarians play a pivotal role in promoting OA in the following blogs. These highlight the evolving landscape of academic libraries, emphasizing their commitment to driving the transition towards OA publishing. The insights shared in these posts should hopefully provide guidance and inspiration for librarians and institutions seeking to actively support the OA movement.

• The Inside-Out Library: How OA is Changing the Role of the Librarian
• Open access and the mission of the academic library
• Driving open access transformation: Insights from the Charleston Conference
• Empowering librarians to promote open access
• Libraries leading the transition to open access

Librarians around the world have already entered TAs with Springer Nature. And perhaps one of the best ways to see what working with one is like is to hear directly from these librarians. Read about what entering and administering a TA is like for academic libraries and their librarians in these blogs:

• How the Japan pilot transformative agreement is helping researchers achieve greater impact
• Transitioning to open access: Reflections from three US organizations
• Open access agreements: Empowering librarians to be OA champions

Springer Nature’s path to sustainable scholarly communication

Springer Nature is dedicated to spearheading the transition towards open access publishing through a range of means, including transformative access agreements, waivers, and collaborations with open science platforms. We understand the significance of supporting librarians and research managers in this journey, and our initiatives are designed to provide practical insights and guidance for navigating the complexities of OA publishing. By fostering a culture of openness and accessibility, we aim to contribute to a more equitable and impactful scholarly communication ecosystem.

Read the full report, “Sustainable Business Report 2023, Open for Progress”, and learn more about Springer Nature’s sustainability and open access journey.

Related content:

• Librarians in the age of open access: An evolving role
• Open access and the mission of the academic library
• How the Japan pilot transformative agreement is helping researchers achieve greater impact
• Libraries leading the transition to open access
• Open access agreements: Empowering librarians to be OA champions
• Transitioning to open access: Reflections from three US organisations
• Empowering librarians to promote open access
• Driving open access transformation: Insights from the Charleston Conference 2023
• The power of partnership: new Transformative Agreement to boost open access publishing in Greece
• The Impact of a Transformative Agreement
• Building OA equity through Transformative Agreements
• Not all routes to open access are equal: The increasing case for Gold
• Supporting Researchers with Open Access Publishing: A Guide
• 1 million Gold Open Access Articles is only the beginning

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