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swissuniversities and Springer Nature have concluded a second Open Access agreement, which came into force on January 1st, 2023.

The agreement with Springer Nature on the two portfolios Springer Compact and Nature Branded is valid until 31 December 2025. In the Springer Compact portfolio, all publications can be published Open Access as before, with the increasing article quota taking into account the steadily growing number of publications. In Nature Branded, authors can now publish Open Access in all Nature Research journals, although only a limited article quota is available here. This will cover around 50% of publications in 2023, around 55% in 2024 and around 60% in 2025.

The agreement can be viewed on the homepage of the Consortium of Swiss University Libraries and the communication of January 31, 2023 here.

Update 17 May 2023: Nature Branded quota for 2023 has been reached

In the agreement with Springer Nature, a quota of 78 articles for open access publications in Nature Branded was set for 2023. Last week, the 78th article was published, and the quota has thus been reached. This means that, until the end of the year, the costs for open access publications in Nature Research journals will no longer be covered by the Springer Nature contract. Researchers can contact their institution to discuss the alternative funding options available for their publications.

At the end of the year, we will be able to assess whether this quota now covers about 50% of the total publication output, as was estimated in the 2022 Springer Nature Deal.

Update, October 12, 2022: Read & Publish agreement with Springer Nature 2023-2025

After careful consideration of all options, swissuniversities has decided to consider Springer Nature's offer for the Springer Compact / Nature Branded portfolios and the corresponding Read & Publish contract, but to reject the offer for the Gold Open Access portfolio.

This pragmatic approach – especially in view of the current geopolitical situation – guarantees stability for the institutions and the inclusion of a publishing component at Nature Branded takes Switzerland an important step further towards the vision formulated in the Open Access strategy. At Springer Compact, the transformation will continue by further increasing the article quota and shifting funds from the reading component at Springer Compact to the publishing component at Nature Branded. The offer for Gold Open Access, on the other hand, was rejected as it did not sufficiently meet the objectives set in the negotiating mandate.

The offers are now with the mandating institutions for signature. Information on the results of the negotiations will be made available as soon as the contracts are signed.

Update from March 2nd, 2022

Conclusion of the negotiations in 2021 coincided with the start of preparations for the next round of negotiations, and the plenary assembly of swissuniversities approved an updated negotiation mandate on February 3rd, 2022, which ties in with the previous negotiation objectives.

Update from November 12, 2021

As announced in August, the allocation for articles included in the contract with Springer Nature has now been reached. This means that, up to the end of the year, researchers from the participating institutions can no longer publish their articles for free via Open Access. Researchers may approach their institutions to discuss the alternatives available. A new allocation for free Open Access articles will apply again from January 2022.

Update from August 25, 2021

After 20 months, it is clear that the agreement with Springer Nature has been very well received. The researchers from the participating institutions are publishing a great deal of material, which is a good sign on the journey towards 100% Open Access for 2024. However, this also means that, contrary to expectations, the allocation for the contractually agreed articles for 2021 will not be sufficient through to the end of the year, and the maximum limit for included articles will probably be reached in October 2021. A new allocation is available again for 2022, so articles can be published under the contract once more from January 2022 at the latest without any additional APC costs.

Related links

The agreement for 2020-2022 is publicly accessible and can be found on the website of the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries.

You can find further information on the scope of the agreement at  www.springer.com/OAforSwitzerland.

Press release of July 2020 on the conclusion of the first round of negotiations. 

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