Springer Nature announces plan for gold open access options for Nature journals

Publisher Springer Nature has announced an open access option for researchers wishing to have their papers published as Gold OA when submitting to Nature and 32 of the Nature primary research journals published by the company. Starting in January, Springer Nature will allow such researchers to pay €9,500 for the right to have their papers offered through open access.

The announcement by Springer Nature comes as all major publishers have been facing increasing pressure to make access to more of their content free of charge. Many research institutions around the world cannot afford the subscription fees, and researchers in research organizations make up the bulk of paper readers. In recent years, several organizations have been formed to help such researchers get published—one called Plan S, has a number of high-profile donors (such as the Gates Foundation). They have been working with publishers to find ways to move toward more open access.

As part of its announcement, Springer Nature reiterated that it is committed to open access and research and because of that will begin offering for its Nature portfolio starting in January, open access options for primary research paper, which will include Nature. They will also kick off their launch by signing an agreement with the Max Planck Digital Library that will include open access—and fees will be covered for authors at certain participating entities. And they will also be launching what they describe as a Guided Open Access trial with three of their Nature journals that will offer authors the opportunity to have their work published on several Nature sites with just one submission.

For the past several decades, as printed versions of journals that publish scientific research papers have moved online, there have been calls in the research community to make such sites open access. As it stands now, for most respected journals, those who wish to read such articles must pay a subscription fee.

And they will also be launching what they describe as a Guided Open Access trial with three of their Nature journals. Authors submit their manuscript one time—to the journal of their choice. The editors then assess its suitability for the journal the article was submitted to, as well as to other associated journals, working together to identify the most appropriate homes.

Two of the other major publishers of research papers, Cell Press and the American Association for the Advancement of Science which publishes the Science line of journals have not yet announced plans for allowing researchers to publish with open access but have suggested that they too are looking into options.

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