Reach and impact of our fully OA portfolio

Springer Nature’s fully OA journals deliver more impact and reach than any other publisher

We are proud of our fully OA portfolio

600 fully OA journals across three imprints.

Top 3 downloaded fully OA journals - Scientific Reports, Nature Communications and BMC Public Health.

68% of our OA articles published in 2022 were in fully OA journals.

22,550+ articles a year published in Scientific Reports, making it the largest fully OA scientific journal in the world.

200+ countries represented by our authors.

€20 million waived in fully OA journal fees to authors in financial need in 2022.

Top areas for article growth

  • Geography
  • Architecture and Design
  • History and Education
  • Psychology
  • Energy
  • Environment, Business and Management
  • Materials Science and Law

10% increase in OA article downloads from our fully OA journals

Springer Nature’s fully OA articles (published between 2005 and 2022) have been downloaded a total of 824 million+ times, with an average of 849 downloads per article in 2022.

Total downloads of fully OA content published

2021: 746 million+ total downloads; 2022: 824 million+ total downloads

Work published in our fully OA journals is seen and used more than other publishers

Our fully OA titles achieve the highest average impact factor per journal. They continue to rank in the top quarter for nearly half of all Journal Citation Reports (JCR) categories (1141).

For the second consecutive year, authors publishing fully OA with us benefit from the highest average citation per article and number of cumulated citations2. Their work is being seen and used more than with other publishers.

1 Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports 2023 (categories for the SCIE and SSCI). ↩

2 Cumulated citations for 2022 are the total number of citations received that year by our total portfolio. ↩

Top five publishers ranked by cumulative citations

# Publisher Cumulative citations
1 Springer Nature 3,825,847
2 Pure OA publisher 2,823,940
3 Mixed model publisher 2,654,310
4 Pure OA publisher 1,404,719
5 Pure OA publisher 1,158,870

Source: Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports 2023 (including ESCI and AHCI categories).

Our fully OA imprints

  • An evolving portfolio of around 300 fully OA peer-reviewed journals, sharing discoveries in science, technology, engineering and medicine.

    BioMed Central (now BMC) changed the world of academic publishing with the introduction of the first OA business model.

    BMC now publishes some of the world’s leading high-quality OA titles, such as BMC Biology, BMC Medicine, Genome Biology and Genome Medicine; academic journals such as Journal of Hematology & Oncology, Malaria Journal and Microbiome; and the BMC Series: 53 inclusive journals focused on the needs of individual research communities.

    A dark-haired woman in a lab coat looking at brain scans

  • A collection of fully OA journals committed to providing authors with a streamlined submission process, rapid review and publication, and a high level of author service at every stage.

    Titles cover hot topics from across the full range of applied science, physical, life, medical and social disciplines. The series puts the author at the heart of the publication process and aims to publish manuscripts 7–10 weeks from submission – while maintaining the high levels of research integrity expected of any Springer Nature title.

    A silhouette of a person standing among large rocks shining a small light on a sky full of stars

  • Providing a rigorous and dynamic outlet for the publication of the latest research in all areas of humanities and social sciences.

    Formerly Palgrave Communications, the renaming to Humanities & Social Sciences Communications signals our reaffirmation of the editorial mission to draw on the expertise and best practices of all imprints within the Springer Nature family, including Palgrave Macmillan.

    An aerial view of a group of people walking across a cobbled street

  • The largest OA journal in the world publishing original research from across all areas of the natural sciences, psychology, medicine and engineering.

    One of the top six most cited journals in the world, with more than 696,000 citations in 2021, Scientific Reports receives widespread attention in policy documents and in the media.

    A close-up of a woman’s face looking out from her space helmet at the universe

  • With nearly 200 years of publishing history, Springer supports the research, academic and professional communities as a technology-driven innovator helping to disseminate knowledge globally.

    It has one of the strongest STM and HSS eBook collections and archives as well as a comprehensive range of fully OA journals . It was one of the first publishers to offer authors ‘open choice’ - a pathway for OA publishing and when it acquired BMC in 2008, became the leading OA publisher with its SpringerOpen portfolio.

    A dark-haired woman and dark-haired man smiling while using their hands to remotely operate a robotic arm in a lab

  • This series complements the other Nature Portfolio journals with more community-focused, multidisciplinary, fair and inclusive publication criteria.

    The Communications Journals have a mission to publish research that enhances and brings new insight to their subject area, while ensuring that their content, editors, authors and reviewers reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.

    Two scuba divers at the bottom of the ocean exploring large green and orange coral

  • A multidisciplinary OA journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research.

    Launched over 10 years ago as the first highly selective OA journal in its field, Nature Communications shares advances of significance to specialists within fields such as biological, health, physical, chemical and Earth sciences.

    A man in a white hard hat and high vis safety gear holding a clipboard up underneath a canopy of large green trees

  • Collaborating with preeminent scientists and global partners to publish high-quality OA research.

    Since their launch in 2014, the series of journals has expanded to span a wide range of research disciplines – from the physical and applied sciences to the life and health sciences, society and the environment.

    A dark-haired man with beard looking at a computer screen analysing a brain scan at hospital

  • The Cureus Journal of Medical Science is a peer-reviewed, Open Access medical journal leveraging the power of an online community platform to share and promote published medical knowledge around the world.

    Through its innovative business model, it addresses the challenge of OA publishing of peer-reviewed articles by medical professionals without access to research grant funds.

    Two surgeons performing a procedure in a darkened operating room

Open Access at Springer Nature

Making research immediately open

OA articles published with Springer Nature are used more than those by other publishers.

Transitioning our hybrid portfolio

At least half the primary research articles we publish will be OA by the end of 2024.

Why publish OA with Springer Nature

Our authors’ papers benefit from higher use and greater visibility, driving knowledge globally.