Press release below from Nature Springer, followed by comments from me.
Nature announces support for authors from over 70 countries to publish open access
Authors from low-income and lower-middle income countries to be able to publish for free in Nature and the Nature research journals
https://group.springernature.com/gp/group/media/press-releases/nature-an...
London | Berlin | New York, 9 January 2023
Updated 18th January 2023
From today, primary research from authors from over 70 countries classified by the World Bank as low-income (LIC) or lower-middle-income economies (LMICs) accepted for publication in either Nature or one of the Nature research journals (e.g. Nature Chemistry, Nature Sustainability) can now be published Gold open access at no cost*. This move recognises that local funding is rarely available for publishing OA in specialist journals like Nature, whose characteristics such as in-house editorial teams and low acceptance rates make it difficult for authors from these countries who are less well-funded.
A key part of this initiative is that authors will not need to ask to benefit from the support. Corresponding authors from qualifying countries whose primary research papers are accepted in principle (AIP) for publication in these titles will be informed as part of the publishing process that their paper will be published gold OA, with the APC covered by Springer Nature. Authors can opt out if they do not wish their papers to be published OA.
Magdalena Skipper, editor in chief of Nature, said:
“At the very core of our mission at Nature is our desire to publish the most significant advances in any branch of research. Open Access makes research available to the widest possible audience fostering open science and collaboration. I am excited that with this move we are taking another step towards making research publishing more equitable and scientific knowledge more accessible globally.”
Deborah Sweet, Vice President for the Nature Journals, added:
“I am delighted that at Nature and the Nature Research Journals we are now able to offer Open Access to researchers from the low and lower middle income countries at no cost to them. As part of Springer Nature, we are committed to supporting the transition to OA and a part of this is to ensure that authors from less well-funded countries who wish to publish OA in this unique portfolio of titles are able to do so.”
* A dedicated fund has been made available to support authors from LIC and LMIC counties to help them have their primary research published OA in Nature and the Nature-branded mixed model journals because of the unique characteristics of these journals. It is a specific provision to support a subset of authors and only applies to the highly selective Nature Portfolio transformative journals as they transition to OA and will be reviewed at the end of 2023. Fully OA titles such as Nature Communications and Scientific Reports, as well as the Springer hybrid portfolio are not included.
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Titles included in the programme are: Nature; Nature Aging; Nature Astronomy; Nature Biomedical Engineering; Nature Biotechnology; Nature Cancer; Nature Cardiovascular Research; Nature Catalysis; Nature Cell Biology; Nature Chemical Biology; Nature Chemistry; Nature Climate Change; Nature Computational Science; Nature Ecology & Evolution; Nature Electronics; Nature Energy; Nature Food; Nature Genetics; Nature Geoscience; Nature Human Behaviour; Nature Immunology; Nature Machine Intelligence; Nature Materials; Nature Medicine; Nature Metabolism; Nature Methods; Nature Microbiology; Nature Nanotechnology; Nature Neuroscience; Nature Photonics; Nature Physics; Nature Plants; Nature Structural & Molecular Biology; Nature Sustainability; Nature Synthesis; Nature Water and Nature Mental Health.
Note to Editors:
This initiative is in addition to Springer Nature’s long standing waiver programme available to authors publishing in its c.600 fully OA titles. Details can be found here. In 2021, Springer Nature waived €18m in APCs.
The World Bank lists the following countries as low-income (LIC) or lower-middle-income economies (LMICs): Afghanistan; Algeria; Angola; Bangladesh; Benin; Bhutan; Bolivia; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Comoros; Congo, Dem. Rep.; Congo, Rep.; Côte d'Ivoire; Djibouti; Egypt, Arab Rep.; El Salvador; Eritrea; Eswatini; Ethiopia; Gambia, The; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Haiti; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Kenya; Kiribati; Kyrgyz Republic; Lao PDR; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Micronesia, Fed. Sts.; Mongolia; Morocco; Mozambique; Nepal; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Rwanda; Samoa; São Tomé and Príncipe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Sudan; Sri Lanka; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Vietnam; West Bank and Gaza; Yemen, Rep.; Zambia; Zimbabwe.
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COMMENTS (NPW):
1. Coming at around the same time as the Lancet Global Health's announcement, this is a welcome move and may be indicative of a general willingness of publishers to go further in facilitating input from researchers in LMICs. It is also encouraging that India is included in the list of eligible countries (it is typically excluded in eligibility lists, partly on the basis that India research provides a substantial revenue that publishers are unwilling to forego).
2. The announcement does not include hundreds of other medical journals published by Springer Nature. You can browse them here: https://link.springer.com/search/page/3?facet-discipline=%22Medicine+%26... Many of these journals are far more relevant to health researchers in LMICs. It will be interesting to see if Nature Springer and other publishers move towards implementing a similar policy across all their journals.
3. It's also notable that the Lancet Global Health says: 'We want to emphasise that we never, ever, expect researchers from any country to pay this charge from their own pockets.' This is a radical and welcome statement that goes much further than few waiving for LMICs.
4. Unlike the Lancet Global Health, Nature Springer does not mention the shift towards funders paying APC charges to ensure gold OA. This is an important shift and I believe it should be recognised and facilitated. Publishers could be doing more to promote payment of OA charges by research funders. It makes sense that medical and health journals should be taking the lead on this because of the obvious moral obligation to make health research readily availble. By doing so, everyone stands to benefit.
Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator
Healthcare Information For All
Global Healthcare Information Network
Working in Official Relations with the World Health Organization
20,000 members, 400 supporting organisations, 180 countries, 6 forums, 4 languages
www.hifa.org neil@hifa.org
