Springer Nature announces new TA

Springer Nature last week announced it has reached a new Transformative Agreement (TA) with Lyrasis, a non-profit member organization working globally to serve libraries and other institutions. The four-year deal covers some 120 institutions and includes eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) benefiting from greater access to articles. In addition, Springer Nature says the agreement will allow over 5,000 articles in the its hybrid portfolio to be published immediately open access at no cost to eligible researchers.

A development in a well-established relationship, this new TA builds upon prior agreements between Springer Nature and Lyrasis such as the 2021 Open Access (OA) sponsorship partnership for books supporting research and teaching aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, added the publisher. The HBCUs included in the TA are the result of Springer Nature’s employees deepening existing relationships with HBCU communities in alignment with Springer Nature’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

With the goal of involving more HBCUs in the future, Springer Nature continued, those currently covered by the Lyrasis TA include:

• Delaware State University
• Fisk University
• Grambling State University
• Kentucky State University
• Morehouse School of Medicine
• Morgan State University
• Texas Southern University
• Xavier University of Louisiana

Maria Lopes, Springer Nature’s vice president of research sales for North America, Latin America and the Caribbean said: “We are delighted to build on our long-standing relationship with Lyrasis via this new agreement that will make it possible for authors at 120 institutions to publish their entire output open access. It is via TAs such as this that we can drive equity, increase readership and author visibility, and foster collaborative research that delivers solutions to pressing issues. TAs play a vital role in enabling a transition to open science and with each one, we cement our joint commitment to that goal.”

Marilyn Hendricks, executive licensing manager at Springer Nature, added: “In order to access opportunities, researchers need to be exposed to specific content. Generally speaking, HBCUs have not had such access. This TA is important in allowing these schools to begin building up their publishing impact. It also enables Black college students to have access to the same content as their peers at non-HBCU institutions.”

Celeste Feather, senior director of content and scholarly communication initiatives at Lyrasis, said: “The Springer Nature journals group at Lyrasis includes a diverse array of institutions that are collaborating at scale to support open access publishing. Research institutions, regional universities, liberal arts colleges, medical schools, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions have come together in response to the needs of their communities. We are eager to see the impact of their efforts as authors engage with new publishing opportunities.”