The University of Iowa Libraries’ new open access agreement with Springer Nature offers university-affiliated corresponding authors unlimited open access publishing in Springer’s hybrid journals portfolio without payment of article processing charges (APCs). The deal was negotiated through the Big Ten Academic Alliance and covers articles accepted for publication between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2027, in eligible journals.

The extensive list of eligible journals is available on the Springer Nature website and includes hybrid journals in the Springer, Adis, and Palgrave Macmillan imprints. Nature and Nature-branded journals are not eligible. Eligible article types include: Original Papers, Review Papers, Brief Communications, and Continuing Education articles.

To publish open access through the agreement, corresponding authors will be prompted to identify their affiliation by selecting the University of Iowa as their institution or by using their institutional email address. An Author Guide is available on the Springer Nature website.

Authors publishing open access through the agreement will retain copyright and select a Creative Commons license to make their work immediately open and available. Open access publishing helps UI research reach a wider audience because it is free to read and not behind a paywall. 

The Springer Nature agreement is one of a growing number of open access agreements in which the UI Libraries participates as part of its commitment to support open access. Articles published through this agreement will be added to the UI Libraries Support Open Access collection in Iowa Research Online.

If you have any questions, please contact Sara Scheib, director of the Scholarly Impact department.