Open access agreement for Germany

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 acts as the main contact for Springer Nature correspondence after editorial acceptance.

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 processes.

In addition, the corresponding author of the article who is affiliated to an eligible institution shall complete the author identification process and act as the point of contact for any enquiries after the paper is published.

If you can say ‘yes’ to these statements, your article is ready for publication under the open access agreement for Germany.

- I am the corresponding author^*.

- I am affiliated with an eligible institution and can identify myself with at least one of the methods of recognition shown in the image below.

- My article matches one of these types: Original Paper, Review Paper, Brief Communication, Editorial Notes⁺, Book Reviews⁺, Letters⁺ and Reports⁺.

Upon acceptance of your article, you'll also be prompted to provide your primary institutional affiliation.

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

^{+Hybrid journals only. Non-research articles in fully open access journals will not be covered by this agreement.}

The approval manager at your institution will approve your article's eligibility based on your institutional affiliation, article type and journal name.

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

As an individual author, you will not be invoiced by Springer Nature for OA publication. These fees are initially being covered by the DEAL main contract Springer Nature concluded with the Max Planck Digital Library Services gGmbH (MPDL Services gGmbH), who centrally coordinates the financial contributions of German institutions. 

Learn more about Projekt DEAL here or speak to your university/ library on how they manage this agreement.