The negotiations with Springer Nature took place as part of the third round of publisher negotiations (‘Big Deal Negotiations’). Open Access negotiations with major scientific publishers are an important part of the Swiss National Open Access Strategy, which pursues the vision of making the results of publicly funded research immediately and freely available to all.
Under the agreement reached, all members of Swiss higher education institutions will receive full reading access to the entire Springer portfolio and to the journal ‘Nature’; members of all higher education institutions participating in the Nature agreement will now receive full reading access to the entire Nature portfolio. Furthermore, they will be able to publish their research results in Springer Nature’s 2'700-plus journals in open access. The agreement provides for an article quota that meets the expected needs of Swiss researchers (Gold OA and Nature Hybrid) or is unlimited (Springer Hybrid).
“A pioneering milestone on the path to Open Access”
With the integration of the Gold Open Access portfolio, the agreement now covers Springer Nature’s entire portfolio, thereby incorporating what had previously been a rapidly growing and only partially controllable cost area into the joint negotiation framework. Luciana Vaccaro, President of swissuniversities, emphasises: “The agreement represents clear progress and a further milestone towards Open Access. The integration of the Gold OA portfolio enables substantial savings and strengthens the overall controllability of the system.”
Members of Swiss higher education institutions and mandating organisations are also granted the greatest possible freedom in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the use of Springer Nature publications in research, teaching and innovation: publications may be analysed using any AI tools, but may not be used for training these tools or made available to third parties. The publications may also be used for the development of non-commercial AI applications in research and teaching. Open Access publications are subject exclusively to the respective OA licence terms and may otherwise be used without any restrictions.
The agreement can soon be accessed on the website of the Consortium of Swiss University Libraries (Springer | Nature). For further information on the negotiations see Publishing negotiations with Springer Nature and the negotiation mandate.
About swissuniversities:
swissuniversities is the conference of rectors of Swiss universities. The umbrella organisation is the common voice of the Swiss universities and promotes cooperation and coordination between the universities and the various types of universities: www.swissuniversities.ch
About the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries:
The Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries acquires licences for academic resources (electronic journals, e-books and databases). It offers a wide range of services and supports the endeavours towards a national Open Access strategy. It thus makes a significant contribution to ensuring the quality and competitiveness of Switzerland as a centre of higher education and research: www.consortium.ch
About Springer Nature:
We promote scientific knowledge by publishing the latest research findings, support the exploration of new areas of research, and make ideas and knowledge accessible worldwide. As a global publisher, we aim to offer the best possible service to everyone working in research and academia. We help to publish research findings and ensure that they are easy to find, accessible, usable and shareable. We provide libraries with innovative technology and data solutions and support professional societies as a publishing partner. We are committed to science, open access and high standards of publishing quality. https://www.springernature.com