UMD Libraries, Big Ten Academic Alliance finalize contract with Springer extending access for faculty, staff, and students

The University of Maryland Libraries are pleased to announce that we have signed a two-year, cost neutral contract with Springer in collaboration with the BTAA. The agreement extends our existing access to Springer journals and adds an Open Access (OA) publishing component without fees or caps. UMD corresponding authors, including graduate students, can publish their research as OA articles in Springer hybrid journals including Adis, Palgrave Macmillan, and Academic hybrid journals on Nature.com. These articles will be available immediately, without embargo, and without paying an article processing charge.

The Springer OA license benefits both the broader scholarly community and the public by making research published under this agreement by UMD faculty and other researchers available to anyone with an internet connection without requiring a subscription or university affiliation.

This represents a significant step towards a more sustainable scholarly knowledge infrastructure among institutions in the BTAA. It sets an example for other institutions to follow to create a future where publicly funded research is equitably accessible.

How Does the Open Access Piece Work?

UMD corresponding authors, including graduate students, who submit eligible articles to Springer for publication are able to publish OA in Springer hybrid and Nature hybrid journals at no cost to themselves.

• Eligible articles are defined as original papers, review papers, brief communications (short articles), and continuing education pieces.
• Authors retain copyright through a Creative Commons license; CC-BY is default
• “Retrospective OA” of up to six months after article is published (e.g., authors who choose “closed” publication for an article can change it to “open”) is available

Who do I contact for more information?

Please contact Olivia Isaacs, Continuing Resources Librarian, at libr-contresc@umd.edu for questions or more information on participating in the Springer agreement.