Spotlight on: Ten years of Transformative Agreements (TAs)
Springer Nature pioneered the first TA in 2015 as an effective pathway to drive a scalable global OA transition
Our TAs have been driving impact for over ten years
TAs have seen an annual average growth rate (AAGR) of 42% since 2015
Source: Springer Nature data. Data relates to Springer and Nature TAs.
737+ million downloads between 2019 and 2024 of articles published via our Springer TAs globally from 2016-2024
Source Counter 5:1. Global data only available from 2019. Downloads relate to Springer TA publications only.
First TA established with VSNU led to extended partnership to investigate social impact of publications linked to the SDGs
Caroline Nevison
Director, Open Access Agreements
“Springer Nature has led the way in TAs since we pioneered the first agreement in 2015 with the Association of Dutch Universities (VSNU) in the Netherlands. Since then over 238,000+ articles have been published by our TAs and we have learnt a lot during the last 10 years as we’ve expanded to work with more partners across the globe, adapting to regional needs.
Whilst evidence continues to show that TAs represent an effective pathway toward an equitable research future – they have an immediate impact on OA publication and ensure researchers across a diverse range of partners, discipline and country can benefit from OA – the global OA transition has not yet been fully achieved. There is still much work that we as publishers, funders, organisations need to do. As we discuss in this report, partnerships, collaboration, adaption are key if we are to realise a truly open future for all researchers.
We remain committed to working with partners to pool resources, adapt to local contexts, and foster collaboration, ensuring that no one is left behind in the drive towards a more open and equitable scholarly communication landscape.”
Our TAs deliver immediate impact on OA output
Immediate impact on OA output
In countries/regions where new national TAs went live in 2024, such as Hong Kong, Israel and Romania, OA uptake reached at least 50% in the first year. This represents at least a 7x increase in OA uptake.
In addition, as we continue to expand our TA offering beyond Europe, we are seeing an increase in institutional and subnational agreements.
OA proportions per agreement country/region pre-TA versus first year (2024)
| Country/Region | Proportions |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong |
65%
|
|
9%
|
|
| Israel |
64%
|
|
6%
|
|
| Romania |
57%
|
|
8%
|
Source: Springer Nature data.
Springer Nature data source: research articles in Springer Research hybrid journals with corresponding author affiliation in named country/region. OA uptake refers to % of these articles published immediate gold OA.
Strong growth of OA share with notable increase in new agreements and OA uptake in the US
Established agreements continue to see strong growth of OA share into the second year of their TAs with uptake increasing by at least 15% for countries such as Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia and South Africa.
The US also saw strong growth with OA uptake reaching 29% in 2024. This coincided with five new consortial TAs in the US including VIVA, OhioLINK, Lyrasis and Carolina Consortium.
This growth and immediate impact signifies the role regional consortia and institutional TAs play in being able to move the dial on the OA transition globally, regardless of location.
US OA uptake from 2017-2024
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021* | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5% |
5% |
5% |
6% |
11% |
12% |
16% |
29% |
* First US TA with SN.
Source: Springer Nature data across US Springer TA agreements.
TAs have central role to play in enabling equity across disciplines
Long-standing TAs in Norway, Switzerland and Finland saw around 90% OA uptake across all disciplines in 2024.
In 2024, Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) had the highest OA uptake at 41%. On a country level, HSS saw the highest OA publication growth from pre- to post-TA in 2024, compared to other disciplines, in countries such as Hungary (4750%), Italy (3007%), Finland (2633%), Romania (980%) and USA (702%).
Anonymised users accounted for 70% of content downloads in 2024 – indicating that they may not have had a way to access the articles if they had been behind a paywall. Africa and South America saw 13x and 11x (respectively) higher download rates per TA article compared to subscription articles.
Source: Counter 5.1, all TA and subscription articles published between 2016–2024 in Springer journals.
Data continues to signify the impact TAs are having on increasing more equitable access for all. The highest uptake continues to be reported for HSS.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10% |
13% |
15% |
22% |
27% |
31% |
36% |
41% |
Source: Springer Nature data.
Our Springer TAs powered 10x more gold OA articles than via author choice alone in 2024 (authors choosing to publish OA) - up from 7x in 2023.
This led to a 24% increase in OA articles published via TAs, accounting for 55,000+ articles in 2024.
Source: Springer Nature data.
The number of TAs agreed by Springer Nature with partners increased by 50% in 2024
Data is reflective of both Springer and Nature agreements
Open access at Springer Nature
Expanding knowledge
50% of our primary research is published OA. Authors publishing OA with us benefit from the highest usage of their work.
Partnerships and collaboration
We are committed to working collaboratively with our community to ensure the OA transition aligns with needs.
What’s next in OA?
Committed to investing in tech and working collaboratively to eliminate barriers, driving forward an inclusive, reproducible, equitable transition to OA.
Spotlight on science communication
We are committed to ensuring the discoverability of our authors’ work, helping them reach new audiences.
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