swissuniversities has signed a second Open Access agreement with Springer Nature on behalf of Swiss universities and libraries. Under this agreement, articles can be published Open Access in the Nature-branded portfolio.
The aim of the second round of negotiations with Springer Nature was to conclude a cost-neutral overall agreement on the three portfolios Springer Compact, Nature Branded and Gold Open Access. Following the conclusion of the first round of negotiations with the three major publishers Elsevier, Wiley and Springer Nature (2021), the objectives for the second round of negotiations were expanded (Big Deal Negotiations: Aims and Governance).
In particular, the inclusion of a publishing component for Nature Branded and an agreement on Gold Open Access were at the centre of the negotiations: The inclusion of a publishing component for Nature Branded was agreed, but no agreement was reached on Gold Open Access. The outcome of the negotiations brings Switzerland a step closer to the vision formulated in the Open Access Strategy, namely, to make all publicly funded scientific publications freely accessible on the internet.
The president of swissuniversities and the negotiating delegation, Yves Flückiger, emphasises: "In tough rounds of negotiations, the negotiating delegation sought pragmatic solutions for all three Springer Nature portfolios. We are pleased that researchers now also have an article quota with Nature Branded, which allows them to publish their articles Open Access and make their research accessible to the public. However, the negotiations also showed that Switzerland must keep up the pressure to achieve the desired progress in the area of Gold Open Access as well."
The agreement with Springer Nature on the two portfolios Springer Compact and Nature Branded came into force on 1 January 2023 and 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.
Further details on the scope of the agreement can also be found at www.springer.com/OAforSwitzerland.
Contact:
Josefa Haas, Head of Communication at swissuniversities
+41 31 335 07 34, communications@clutterswissuniversities.ch, www.swissuniversities.ch
Anina Köppli, Licensing Manager, Consortium of Swiss University Libraries
+41 44 510 16 96, anina.koeppli@clutterslsp.ch, www.consortium.ch
Sam Sule, Communication Springer Nature
sam.sule@clutterspringernature.com, www.springernature.com
About swissuniversities
swissuniversities is the Rectors' Conference of the 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 higher education institutions: www.swissuniversities.ch
About the Consortium of Swiss University Libraries
The consortium of Swiss university libraries acquires licences for scientific resources (electronic journals, e-books, and databases). It offers a wide range of services and supports the efforts 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
For over 180 years, Springer Nature has been driving scientific discovery by providing the best possible services to the entire research community. We help researchers develop new ideas; we ensure that all the research we publish is significant, robust, and up to objective analysis; that it reaches all relevant audiences in the best possible format; and that it can be discovered, accessed, used (repeatedly) and shared. We support librarians and institutions with innovations in technology and data and provide qualified and competent support to societies in publishing.
As a publisher for researchers, Springer serves strong imprints such as Springer, Nature Research, BMC, Palgrave, Macmillan, and Scientific American. For further information, please visit www.springernature.com and @SpringerNature.
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