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On this page you can find out about Springer Nature’s open access (OA) policies for books and chapters published via the immediate ‘gold’ OA and non-open access routes.
Click here for our OA policies for journal articles.
For information about meeting the OA policies of funders and institutions when publishing with Springer Nature, visit our OA funding support service.
All open access books and chapters published by SpringerOpen and Palgrave Macmillan are published under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of open access material.
Springer Nature OA books and chapters are published under a CC BY licence (Creative Commons Attribution v4.0 International Licence) by default. The CC BY licence is the most open licence available and considered the industry 'gold standard' for open access; it is also preferred by many funders. This licence allows readers to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, and to alter, transform, or build upon the material, including for commercial use, providing the original author is credited.
Other Creative Commons licences are available on request: please contact your editor to discuss this. However, before requesting an alternative licence you are advised to check your funder's requirements, to ensure compliance.
Intergovernmental organisation (IGO) versions of Creative Commons licences for books and chapters are available on request where required by the author’s employer.
Authors of open access books and chapters at Springer or Palgrave Macmillan may not change the Creative Commons licence of their work after publication.
Authors retain copyright of all open access books or chapters published by Springer Nature under a Creative Commons licence.
Authors retain copyright of all open access books or chapters published by Springer Nature under a Creative Commons licence.
Authors considering publishing their books or chapters via the immediate open access route should carefully consider whether they need to include any third-party material in their manuscript. Third-party material is only acceptable in an open access book or chapter if you:
Please see our dedicated Third-party permissions page for additional guidance on third-party rights.
Book and chapter authors who have published via the paid open access option are encouraged to deposit the final published PDF in their institutional repository or any suitable subject repository on publication.
Authors should include a link to the published book or chapter on SpringerLink when they deposit the content in a repository; in all cases, the requirement to link to the publisher’s website is designed to protect the integrity and authenticity of the scientific record, with the online published version on the publisher’s website clearly identified as the definitive version of record.
Authors are advised to check their funders' deposition requirements to ensure compliance. Read our OA Policy FAQs to learn about how book and chapter authors can ensure they meet funder self-archiving requirements
Springer Nature deposits the full text of all open access books and chapters in the Directory of Open Access Books on behalf of the authors. We also deposit all books and chapters funded by the Wellcome Trust in PubMed’s NCBI Bookshelf, and will submit other titles in relevant subject areas on request.
Our policies on self-archiving of books and chapters which have been published via the non-open access route can be found below.
Authors whose work is accepted for publication in a non-open access Springer or Palgrave Macmillan book are permitted to self-archive the accepted manuscript (AM) chapter or section, on their own personal website and/or in their funder or institutional repositories, for public release after an embargo period (see the table below). The accepted manuscript is the version of the book manuscript accepted for publication after peer review, but prior to copyediting and typesetting.
Use of archived accepted manuscripts (AMs) of non open-access books and chapters are subject to an embargo period and our AM terms of use, which permit users to view, print, copy, download and text and data-mine the content, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full conditions of use. Under no circumstances may the AM be shared or distributed under a Creative Commons, or other form of open access license, nor may it be reformatted or enhanced.
The amount of the AM, or AM chapter can be deposited after first online publication; subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use and the criteria in the table below.
| Type of work | Embargo length after publication* | Amount of AM that can be deposited | Deposition of the AM chapter or section permitted in an institutional or funder repository after embargo and on the author's own personally maintained website***? |
| Authored works, textbooks | 24 months | Up to 10% | Yes |
| Contributed volumes (incl handbooks) | 24 months | Author's own chapter** | Yes |
| Proceeding papers | 12 months | Author's own paper** | Yes**** |
* Authors may make a closed deposit on acceptance, provided the embargo periods above are adhered to for public release.
** Multi-authored works: Each contributor may archive up to one chapter per volume (provided they are the author or a co-author of such chapter). Please note that any linking, collection or aggregation of chapters from the same volume is strictly prohibited.
*** Excludes commercial scholarly sharing networks (e.g. ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Mendeley).
****Deposition of the amount of AM or AM chapter to author’s own personally maintained website is permitted immediately on acceptance for proceedings papers.
In addition to the above policy, which applies to the accepted manuscript (AM), authors may deposit a portion of the pre-submission version of their manuscript (preprint) in a recognised preprint server such as arXiv, biorXiv, or RePEc. No re-use rights apply. The amount of the work that may be deposited in preprint servers is the same as for self-archiving of the AM – please see the table above. This portion of the pre-submission manuscript (preprint) may be deposited and made publicly available at any point.
- Books and chapters published under the Apress imprint and major reference works (MRWs) are not covered by this policy.
- For self-archiving policies applying to subscription journal articles please see our journal policy page.
- If you have any queries regarding this policy please contact us at bookpermissions@springernature.com.
A book or chapter processing charge (BPC/CPC) covers all the costs of commissioning, copyediting and proofreading, production, dissemination and promotion of our authors’ work, including online hosting and indexing. Authors can choose to pay a BPC/CPC in order for their book or chapter to be published open access under a Creative Commons licence.
Springer Nature does not offer waivers or discounts for open access book or chapter processing charges (BPCs / CPCs). Our publication charges are set at a level to be sustainable, and as such we are unable to offer any fee reductions. Authors without access to funds to cover the open access publication charge are able to publish their title with Springer or Palgrave Macmillan using the traditional model.
Authors are also encouraged to speak to their funders and institutions to find out about funding availability for BPCs/CPCs. Find out more through our free OA funding support service.
Few funders worldwide currently mandate open access for books and chapters. However, the policy landscape is changing rapidly, so authors are advised to check their funder's requirements. For advice about your funder's requirements please contact our OA Support Service at OAfundingpolicy@springernature.com.
Authors of open access books and chapters published by Springer and Palgrave Macmillan must indicate that they wish to publish open access before a title is published. It is not possible for authors to convert books to open access retrospectively (that is, after publication). However, in exceptional cases individual chapters may be converted to open access publication retrospectively where this is required for funder compliance. Please contact ORSupport@springernature.com for advice.”