Skip to main content

Nature-Branded Journals Announce First Open-Access Deal

The agreement will enable authors at eligible German institutes to publish an estimated 400 open-access papers each year in Springer Nature journals from the Nature line of titles.

Written byMax Kozlov
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00

ABOVE: © ISTOCK.COM,
OLLO

Springer Nature, the parent company of the Nature suite of journals, will allow researchers affiliated with around 120 German institutions to publish an estimated 400 open-access papers in these titles annually starting in 2021.

The deal, announced yesterday (October 20), will be offered to institutions that currently subscribe to Nature journals. The first to sign up is the Max Planck Society, an association of 86 research institutes. The deal will be “an enormous opportunity for scientists in Germany,” as well as an opportunity for researchers elsewhere to build on their scientific findings, Klaus Blaum, vice president of the Max Planck Society’s Scientific Council for Chemistry, Physics and Technology, says in a statement.

Springer Nature signed a similar agreement—to date, the world’s largest transformative agreement, in which publishers and research institutions agree to a contract that contains elements geared towards increasing open access—with a consortium of more than ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member?
Add The Scientist as a preferred source on Google

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

  • Max is a science journalist from Boston. Though he studied cognitive neuroscience, he now prefers to write about brains rather than research them. Prior to writing for The Scientist as an editorial intern in late 2020 and early 2021, Max worked at the Museum of Science in Boston, where his favorite part of the job was dressing in a giant bee costume and teaching children about honeybees. He was also a AAAS Mass Media Fellow, where he worked as a science reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Read more of his work at www.maxkozlov.com.

    View Full Profile

Related Topics

Related articles background image
The Scientist Digest cover September 2026
September 2026

Multiplex Microscopy Becomes Easier with Encoded Antibodies

A new system that enables researchers to uniquely tag monoclonal antibodies for use in microscopy could help simplify complex imaging studies.

View this Issue
Rethinking ALS Biomarkers: From Discovery to Clinical Impact

Rethinking ALS Biomarkers: From Discovery to Clinical Impact

Alamar Biosciences logo
Best Practices for qPCR Assay Design and Optimization

Best Practices for qPCR Assay Design and Optimization

Bio-Rad
Beyond the Basics: Strategies for Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Analysis

Beyond the Basics: Strategies for Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Analysis

bioxcell
Scientist reviewing cellular and molecular data on a computer in a laboratory.

Building Translation-Ready Biomarkers with Connected Workflows

Danaher Logo

Products

Closeup image of a multi channel pipette dispensing pink liquid into a 96-well plate.

The ASSIST PLUS pipetting robot for affordable workflow automation

Integra Logo
Single cells in suspension

Rapidly isolate primary cells and make uniform single-cell suspensions with Corning® Cell Strainers

Corning logo
Abstract image representing cell membranes linked together.

CellBrite® Steady Membrane Stain: Cell surface staining built for real-time imaging

Biotium
sino biological logo

Monod Bio Licenses AI-designed Protein Technologies to SignalChem Biotech for Custom Discovery Assays