What does the pilot program between Springer Nature and ResearchGate involve?

Springer Nature and ResearchGate are continuing their collaboration to pilot innovative access models for scientific content in the rapidly evolving scientific ecosystem. This continuing partnership brings together Springer Nature’s experience in publishing with ResearchGate’s capabilities in dissemination, making research even more visible and discoverable and connecting researchers. As part of the collaboration, over 30,000 Springer Nature journal articles will be made available on ResearchGate. This full-text content will be available to all ResearchGate users.  

Will all ResearchGate users be able to access this content?

Yes. All users of ResearchGate will have access to the content during the pilot period. 

If Springer Nature has made an article available, and you are recognized by ResearchGate as having a current Springer Nature institutional subscription to this content, you will automatically have access to the full text both on the publication page (in-line) and as a downloadable copy. If you are not recognized by ResearchGate as having a Springer Nature subscription, you will still be able to access the full text online, but there will be no option to download. 

Which journals' content will ResearchGate users be able to access under the pilot?

ResearchGate users will be able to access research articles that were published from November 2017 onward in the following Nature journals:

• Nature 
• Nature Astronomy
• Nature Biomedical Engineering
• Nature Cell Biology
• Nature Chemical Biology
• Nature Chemistry
• Nature Climate Change
• Nature Ecology & Evolution
• Nature Energy
• Nature Genetics
• Nature Geoscience
• Nature Human Behaviour
• Nature Immunology
• Nature Materials
• Nature Medicine
• Nature Methods
• Nature Microbiology
• Nature Nanotechnology
• Nature Neuroscience
• Nature Photonics
• Nature Physics
• Nature Plants
• Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

And from 11th July 2019, also articles that were published from January 2017 onward in the following Springer journals: 

• Experimental Brain Research
• Annals of Operations Research
• Microchimica Acta
• Cluster Computing
• Environmental Earth Sciences
• Empirical Economics
• Higher Education
• The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
• Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
• Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
• Journal of Materials Science
• Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications
• Surgical Endoscopy
• Journal of Business Ethics
• Applied Physics A
• Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
• Social Indicators Research
• International Journal of Dynamics and Control

Users already have full access to all Springer Nature open access content, including Nature Research open access journal (Nature Communications, Communications Biology, Communications Physics, Communications Chemistry, Scientific Reports and the Nature Partner Journals).

How long will the pilot last?

The first phase of the pilot, which launched on 7^th March 2019, was to gather feedback from scientists and institutions to further evaluate the best approach to innovative access models going forward. After an extensive review and positive user feedback, we have expanded the pilot to continue until at least Autumn 2019.  

What will happen after the pilot phase?

Together, Springer Nature and ResearchGate are piloting innovative and seamless access models for all researchers. Our shared goal is to develop a model that will expand access to scientific content for authors, subscribers and non-subscribers beyond the term of this pilot. Should the companies decide not to pursue with the access models implemented in the pilot program, we have agreed on a solution that will not disrupt authors’ user experiences.

For authors 

How does the pilot affect authors?

If your article has been published in a selected journal, then an up-to-date version of the full-text will be made available by Springer Nature on your publication's page on ResearchGate. All of your readers will automatically have access to this Springer Nature full-text.  

This pilot doesn't affect any restrictions that otherwise apply to authors' ability to share their work on ResearchGate. 

What if I don't want a full-text on my publication page?

If you have any concerns about the addition of the Springer Nature full-text to your publication's page on ResearchGate, please contact our Community Support Team at: https://www.researchgate.net/contact

What is the legal status of the Springer Nature articles?

The articles made available by Springer Nature on ResearchGate as part of the pilot program are still subject tocopyrightand any applicable licenses or policies. For more information, please read these Additional Terms.

ResearchGate does not have any insights about copyright agreements between authors and Springer Nature. Please direct any questions about this directly toSpringer Nature at onlineservice@springernature.com