Springer - Open Access Publishing: Springer OA - Introduction

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Information for Authors

What is OhioLINK's Springer open access deal?

In addition to OhioLINK member institutions' current access to Springer journal titles through the Electronic Journal Center (EJC), OhioLINK has negotiated an upgraded agreement that offers access to over 700 additional electronic journals from Springer Nature along with open access publishing benefits.

Starting in January 2024, authors at most OhioLINK member institutions will have the ability to publish open access (OA) journal articles in eligible hybrid journals published by Springer Nature (including many Springer, Palgrave, Adis, and academic journals at nature.com) at no additional cost to either the author or the institution.  

Nature portfolio journals such as Nature itself and Scientific American are not included.  Fully open access journals are not included.  [READ MORE]

Eligible article types

Original papers (original research), review papers, brief communications, continuing education articles.  [READ MORE],

Eligible authors and institutions

In order to be eligible to publish open access at no cost in a Springer journal under this agreement, the corresponding author of the article (see below for definition) must be affiliated with an institution that subscribes to OhioLINK’s Electronic Journal Center (EJC), a full text searchable database of electronic journal articles from top scholarly publishers.   [READ MORE]

UToledo faculty and students please email us here for assistance and queries.

Quick Eligibility Checklist for no-charge APC coverage

• Eligible publication types:  original paper, review paper, brief communication, continuing education
• Eligible journals:  eligible hybrid journals published by Springer Nature (including many Springer, Palgrave, Adis, and academic journals at nature.com).  Nature portfolio journals such as Nature itself and Scientific American are not included.  Fully open access journals are not included.  Excel list of eligible hybrid journals.
• Eligible authors:   corresponding author must be affiliated with an institution that subscribes to OhioLINK’s Electronic Journal Center (EJC) (i.e., UToledo)  The corresponding author is the person who agrees to handle the manuscript and correspondence during the publication process. Providing Springer with the name of your OhioLINK-affiliated institution and an institutional email address is part of the process for confirming institution affiliation.  
• Dates of eligibility:  request for coverage (following acceptance for publication) of the APC must be approved between the dates of January 1, 2024–December 31, 2026
• Ineligible journal and publication types:  Nature portfolio journals such as Nature itself and Scientific American are not included.  Fully open access journals are not included.
• Other restrictions:  There is a maximum number of articles that may be published open access across all OhioLINK institutions under this agreement. Once the limit is reached, the option to publish articles open access at no cost will no longer be available. Authors may choose to publish behind the subscription paywall or may choose to pay the APC for open access on their own. 

NOTE:  The OhioLINK Springer OA publishing deal does not include the journal Nature or Scientific American.  Read more details here.