Springer 2024 Open Access cap reached

The Springer Open Access agreement for the Netherlands has been in place since 2015 and was renewed for the 2024-2026 period. For 2024, the maximum number of publications covered by the agreement was set at 2.067. This cap has now been reached, meaning that authors will no longer be able to publish their articles open access under this agreement for the remainder of the year. This agreement allows corresponding authors affiliated with participating institutions to publish their articles open access, with the associated fees covered. However, the agreement includes an annual cap on the number of publications eligible for open access funding.

While Springer still offers Open Access as an option, authors will now be required to cover the Article Processing Charges (APCs) themselves if they wish to publish their articles open access.

Authors whose articles have already been accepted and are awaiting publication, but who lack the funds to cover APCs, may consider alternative options. One such option is publishing under ‘closed access’ and then making use of the Taverne Amendment to share their article publicly in their institutional repository after a six-month embargo period. Several Dutch universities have implemented this as a regulation, based on Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act (the Taverne Amendment). Please note that procedures for this may vary between institutions and UMC.

If you have any questions about Taverne Amendment, the Springer Open Access agreement, or would like more information on alternative open access publishing options, please contact your library for further assistance.