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Open access agreements and the library

Open access (OA) agreements with PÕ¾ÊÓƵ are more than reading and publishing. We work with institutions of all sizes and their researchers to maximise impact through increased visibility and usage of research.

PÕ¾ÊÓƵ is here to help you — the library community — with your transition to OA. As everyone's journey is unique, below you will find some of the ways in which PÕ¾ÊÓƵ can support you.

Making open access simpler, and research more visible

The way research is published is evolving, and Springer transformative agreements (TAs) are helping institutions take part in that change.

Springer TAs bring reading access and OA publishing together in a single agreement, helping institutions support their researchers while simplifying administration for library teams.

Watch the animation to see how these agreements are helping more research become openly available, visible, and impactful.

What is an open access agreement?

An OA agreement with PÕ¾ÊÓƵ is an end-to-end service to help you and your researchers drive more impact for your institution through accessible, high-quality research output.

OA agreements play a vital role in driving the transition to OA at scale. Research shows that achieve almost 7 times more downloads than non-OA articles, as well as 50% more citations than non-OA and green OA articles and over 5 times more Altmetric attention. Gold OA also has a proven impact on faster dissemination with gold OA articles gaining almost 3 times more downloads in their first 3 months than non-OA articles gain in an entire year.

PÕ¾ÊÓƵ offers different types of OA agreements. These agreements cover hybrid and fully OA portfolios but the key focus of all these agreements is the coverage of publishing fees for authors from participating institutions.

Types of OA agreement:

Transformative agreements

  • Transformative agreements (TAs) enable institutions to combine subscription (reading) access along with OA publication fees in hybrid journals into a single licensing agreement.
  1. Springer TAs: cover OA publishing in more than 2,000 hybrid journals plus access to the Springer hybrid and subscription journal portfolio
  2. Nature TAs: cover OA publication and reading access in the Nature Portfolio hybrid journals. 

Fully OA agreements 

  • These are publishing-only agreements for fully OA journals across the BMC, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan and Nature Research portfolios.  
  • Find out more about fully OA agreements, including the journals and institutions covered within each agreement.
  • In addition, over 500 institutions are part of PÕ¾ÊÓƵ’s membership program. Memberships provide authors with discounted article processing charges (APCs) for and fully OA journals.

OA book agreements

  • These are publishing-only agreements covering the OA book publishing charges (BPCs), sponsored by either a funding body (e.g. society), consortium, or institution. 
  • Find out more about OA book agreements.

These agreements support researchers from over 4,000 institutions globally and help to deliver equity for OA publishing across academic disciplines, particularly for the Humanities and Social Sciences, where funding for OA publishing can be limited.


In some cases, authors may need to consult with their funder about requirements they must meet to comply with that funder’s mandates (specific publishing licences, for example). You can find out more on our support pages.

Discover the advantages of an OA agreement

With an OA agreement, librarians can:

  • Centralise payments and reduce administration
  • Ensure an easy, best in class OA workflow with automated, efficient, and reliable author identification and reporting
  • Provide a more streamlined, convenient OA publishing process for your authors
  • Maximise the visibility, reach and impact of your researchers’ work, reflecting positively on your institution
  • Ensure that all authors comply with funding regulations requiring research to be made immediately OA upon publication (for example, with a Plan S funder’s grant).

Learn more about OA agreements

Sign up to get more information about OA agreement options for your institution and region, discover how other libraries are benefiting from their agreement, and keep up to date with the latest OA developments.

Case studies: proven results and insights

From access to impact: How open access shapes research reach, citations, and global visibility

This white paper explores the effect of different routes to OA on the reach and impact of articles in hybrid journals. It demonstrates that research published via gold OA continues to deliver significant advantages in readership, citations, and reach over both non-OA and green OA articles, contributing to increased global visibility and impact of research.

Gold OA_From access to impact_Key visual

Open for impact: China’s gold open access boosting global innovation and supporting the Global South

This white paper highlights the growing impact of China’s open access (OA) research. It shows how gold OA is helping institutions extend the reach and visibility of their research, strengthen international partnerships, and engage audiences across the Global South.

China Report_keyvisual_01_basis

Accelerating open access at scale: A look at three transformative agreements

This case study explores how transformative agreements (TAs) are enabling a global shift towards OA. It looks in detail at three TAs in the United States, South Africa and Slovenia and highlights how these agreements support and benefit institutions, their researchers and the wider academic community.

Three US organizations reflect on their transition to OA

In this case study three US organizations reflect on their OA agreements with PÕ¾ÊÓƵ and provide insights into how this has helped them to transition to OA, the impact the agreements have had on their working practices as well as the advice they would give others looking to take the next step in their OA journey.

Download the case study
(PDF, 1.87 MB)

Creating new pathways: The PÕ¾ÊÓƵ and Jisc transformative agreement

This case study provides an overview of the impact and reach of the PÕ¾ÊÓƵ Jisc TA in the UK over a six-year period. It demonstrates the evolution of the UK TA to the end of 2021, discussing the benefits to institutions, authors and funders, and how TAs enable a sustainable transition to an open research future.