Your privacy, your choice

We use essential cookies to make sure the site can function. We also use optional cookies for advertising, personalisation of content, usage analysis, and social media.

By accepting optional cookies, you consent to the processing of your personal data - including transfers to third parties. Some third parties are outside of the European Economic Area, with varying standards of data protection.

See our privacy policy for more information on the use of your personal data.

for further information and to change your choices.
About

Assessing the open access effect for hybrid journals

Open access articles in hybrid journals attract more downloads, citations, and attention compared to those published behind a paywall.

In partnership with Digital Science, we analysed a global sample of over 70,000 articles published in Springer Nature hybrid journals. Our new white paper, Assessing the open access effect for hybrid journals, examines the relationship between open access (OA) and impact, demonstrating the wider value hybrid journals bring to researchers, funders, institutions, and society more broadly.

The global analysis showed that:

  • On average, OA articles were downloaded 1.6 times more by users based at academic institutions and 4 times more by users overall, compared to non-OA articles.
  • OA articles attracted an average of 1.6 times more citations.
  • OA articles attracted an average of 2.4 times more Altmetric attention, with 1.9 times more news mentions than non-OA articles.

We sampled

  • 73,925

    articles from hybrid journals (globally)

  • 9,114

    articles in hybrid journals with UK authors

Learn more about the study

Download the full report

This white paper explores the impact advantage of open access (OA), looking specifically at Springer Nature hybrid journals.

View the infographic

An at-a-glance way to learn more about the key findings and methodology behind our new white paper. 

View the data on figshare

https://figshare.com/articles/_/6396290

Hybrid usage report-OA advantage

Hybrid usage report-OA advantage

“This report shows that hybrid journals, given their ability to publish both OA and non-OA articles, play an important role in enabling authors to publish in the journal of their choice while aiding the growth of open access content.”

“We know that authors don’t make decisions based on the publishing model of a particular journal, but are motivated first and foremost by their desire to be published in a relevant peer-reviewed journal with a strong reputation in their community. We respect academic independence so as a global publisher we need to continue to offer a range of publishing options to ensure that we serve the whole research community.”

Steven Inchcoombe,

Chief Publishing Officer,

Springer Nature

Steven Inchcoombe

Steven Inchcoombe