Lib4RI-Update #43: Preparing for a no-contract scenario with Springer Nature in 2026

The current agreement with Springer Nature ends on 31 December 2025. Negotiations about a new agreement with the publisher have not yet resulted in a mutually acceptable agreement. From 2026 onwards, a no-contract situation is emerging, with consequences for reading access and Open Access publishing in Springer Nature journals.

The 2025 Read & Publish agreement with Springer Nature provides reading access to Springer Nature’s journal portfolio and enables researchers at Eawag, Empa, PSI and WSL to publish Open Access in the hybrid journals of Springer Nature without having to pay the article charges themselves. The negotiations with Springer Nature for a new agreement from 2026 onwards, covering both hybrid and full Open Access journals, started early 2025. As swissuniversities communicated on 19 December 2025, the negotiations have not yet resulted in a mutually acceptable agreement. Negotiations are led by the Consortium of Swiss Academic Libraries (CSAL) on behalf of swissuniversities and are based on the Mandate for the Negotiations with Major International Publishers

Possible no-contract situation from 2026 – what are the implications?

While talks continue, we are preparing for a potential no-agreement period from 1 January 2026 that would affect both reading access and Open Access publishing.

• Reading access:
  Access to journal content published on or after 1 January 2026 may be disabled. Access to older content (all Springer journals: 2017-2025; core Nature journals: 2002-2025) will be maintained. The document delivery service of Lib4RI is available free of charge for researchers at Eawag, Empa, PSI and WSL if the desired content is no longer accessible.
• Publishing in hybrid journals:
  Authors may continue to publish closed-access articles in hybrid journals without APCs (i.e., behind a paywall). The ability to publish Open Access without APCs in hybrid journals will end for manuscripts accepted on or after 1 January 2026. Lib4RI will not pay APCs for hybrid journals and strongly discourages authors from using their own funds. To make your work openly available, please self-archive the accepted manuscript in DORA, our institutional repository (green Open Access).
• Publishing in fully Open Access journals:
  Researchers can still publish in fully Open Access journals if they have funds to cover the APC. swissuniversities recommends that institutions do not pay for articles in fully Open Access journals from their central funds, as this weakens the Swiss negotiating position. Consequently, fully Open Access journals published by Springer and Nature may be ineligible for funding from our Open Access Fund until a new agreement is in place.

Stay informed

Up-to-date information for specific journals about reading access and options for Open Access publishing are available via the journal search on our website. Updates on negotiations with Springer Nature will also be posted on our Open Access agreements page (see the section for Springer and Nature journals) and via Lib4RI News.

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