Open access agreements

Information for authors

Publishing your article open access (OA) can bring you several benefits, including increased downloads and citations—and make your research more accessible to readers globally.

To help you take advantage of these benefits, many institutions cover researchers’ OA publishing costs (known as article processing charges, or APCs) as part of OA agreements with Springer Nature.

Paying for OA APCs through your institution

Publishing your article through an OA agreement is the easiest route to OA for eligible authors

Financial support for APCs

Many institutions offer financial support for researchers to pay APCs. One way is through OA agreements with publishers—either on their own or through a consortium agreement across many institutions.

Your institution’s OA agreement with Springer Nature may provide: 

  • Full APC coverage - 100% of the APC is paid by the institution 
  • A percentage discount - e.g. 10% off the list price APC
  • Fixed price coverage - e.g. up to €1,000 paid by the institution. 

Different OA agreements include different journals

Institutions take different approaches to how they support their researchers publishing in different journals. Your institution’s agreement with Springer Nature may include journals from across Springer, Nature, BMC, Palgrave, and/or Adis. 

Seamlessly integrated in the publishing workflow

Getting your APC paid via an OA agreement is seamlessly integrated into the Springer Nature publishing workflows and led by you, the corresponding author. Your article will be identified as part of an agreement based on details submitted. After your article has been accepted for publication, you will be notified of your coverage options and prompted to confirm your OA licensing on behalf of all co-authors. Explore the steps in detail.

OA agreements by region

Find out more about the terms of your agreement on the agreement webpages or by contacting your library or research office.

Region

Africa

Egypt

South Africa, Botswana & Namibia

Saudi Arabia

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Asia and Oceania

Australia & New Zealand

Australia & New Zealand

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

University of Otago

Victorian Health Libraries Consortium

Western Australian Hospitals

Cyprus

Cyprus Libraries Consortium

India

Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India

MAHE, Manipal

Israel

Israel MALMAD

Hong Kong

Hong Kong (JULAC)

Japan

Japan

Korea (South)

Chung-Ang University

Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Pohang University of Science and Technology

Seoul National University

Sung Kyun Kwan University

Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology

Qatar

Qatar

Taiwan

Taiwan

Thailand

Mahidol University

Türkiye

Türkiye

Europe

Austria

Austria

Czech Republic

Czech Republic

Denmark

Denmark

Finland

Finland

France

France Couperin

Germany

Germany - Nature Transformative Agreement 

Germany - Projekt DEAL 

Greece

Greece

Hungary

Hungary

Ireland

Ireland

Italy

Italy

Malta

University of Malta

Netherlands

Netherlands

Norway

Norway

Poland

Poland

Portugal

Portugal

Romania

Romania

Slovakia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Slovenia

Spain

Spain

Sweden

Sweden

Switzerland

Switzerland

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Latin America

Colombia

Colombia

Mexico

Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla

Cinvestav

Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

North America

Canada

Federal Science Libraries Network Canada

United States of America

Air Force Research Laboratory

Carnegie Mellon University

Carolina Consortium

Illinois State University

Lyrasis

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NERL

Northeastern University

OhioLINK

Rowan University

Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium

University of California

VIVA