Development Genes and Evolution - Transition to fully open access: FAQs
Frequently asked questions regarding the transition to fully open access (OA) and what this means for Development Genes and Evolution.
Why are you flipping the journal to fully OA?
Springer Nature is committed to ensuring our portfolio serves and meets the evolving needs of the research community and that research is read and disseminated as widely as possible. Transforming Development Genes and Evolution to the fully OA Discover Developmental Biology reflects our ongoing commitment to driving the transition to open research, and providing researchers with OA publication venues that can amplify their research and enable compliance with funder and institutional OA requirements, while continuing to deliver a high level of author service. On average, OA articles are downloaded 6 times more, and cited 1.6 times more than non-OA articles, as well as attracting 4.9 times more attention. By publishing all content via the OA route, we can therefore support authors in ensuring their work has the widest possible reach, and enable all readers to access this content without paywalls or restrictions.
Why is there no longer a non-OA option available at submission in the peer review system?
Starting in January 2025, Development Genes and Evolution will become Discover Developmental Biology, a fully OA journal, and will only be publishing articles as open access. In preparation for this switch to full OA, Development Genes and Evolution will from now on only be accepting articles for publication in Discover Developmental Biology.
When will you stop publishing non-OA articles? I have submitted/will submit my article before the end of the year; can I still publish non-OA?
As of 1 September 2024 we are open for OA submissions only for publication in Discover Developmental Biology and from 1 January 2025 we will only be publishing articles as Open Access in Discover Developmental Biology. Articles submitted before 1 September and accepted for publication in 2024 can still be published via the subscription route if this option is selected during the licence signing process.
What will the article processing charge (APC) be?
As under our current hybrid journal model, the costs of OA publishing services will be supported by article processing charges (APCs), payable by authors’ institutions or funders when articles are accepted for publication.
The 2025 APCs for Discover Developmental Biology will be announced shortly. For general APC questions please see our journal pricing FAQs here.
What does this mean for authors already under submission? Do I have to pay an APC?
While some authors will have submitted to Development Genes and Evolution with the intention of publishing OA, we understand that other authors were not planning on taking up the OA option and so may not have considered whether they have access to OA funding for the article processing charge (APC).
Springer Nature has a number of OA agreements and memberships in place with consortia and institutions around the world. When articles are accepted for publication, Springer Nature performs an eligibility check to identify articles covered by OA agreements. If your article is approved as eligible by your institution then it will be published OA and you will not be invoiced by Springer Nature, since the APC will be centrally invoiced to the OA agreement.
We are also putting special measures in place to support authors who submitted prior to the flip to OA. If your article is not covered by an OA agreement then we will provide details at the point of acceptance on how to have the APC covered by the journal.
What if I don't have OA funding available? Does that mean I can no longer submit to Development Genes and Evolution when it becomes Discover Developmental Biology?
Springer Nature has a number of OA agreements and memberships in place with consortia and institutions around the world. If your article is approved as eligible by your institution then it will be published OA and you will not be invoiced by Springer Nature, since the APC will be centrally invoiced to the OA agreement.
There are also many institutions and research funders that provide APC funding for OA authors. You can find more information on our OA funding support service pages, or contact our support service directly (OAfundingpolicy@springernature.com).
Springer Nature recognises that some authors may not have access to OA funds, and so has discount and waiver policies in place to ensure that no author is prevented from publishing in a fully OA journal because they are unable to fund the APC. You can apply for an APC discount or waiver during the Discover Developmental Biology submission process. The APC waivers team will then confirm if you are eligible for a waiver or discount. For more information please see the APC waiver information on our journal OA policies page here.
What licence will OA articles be published under?
Discover Developmental Biology will continue to publish OA articles under Creative Commons licences. These provide an industry-standard framework to support easy re-use of OA material. Under Creative Commons licences, authors retain copyright of their articles. More information about CC licensing is available on our licensing and copyright guidance page.
How will this change help authors comply with funder or institutional policies?
As a fully OA journal offering Creative Commons open access licences, authors publishing in Discover Developmental Biology will be able to comply with any funder or institutional OA policy worldwide. A number of funders require their authors to make their articles immediately available under an open access licence, and as such Discover Developmental Biology articles will be fully compliant with Plan S principles, and there is no risk that authors might choose a non-compliant non-OA publication route. Equally, if authors are supported by funders or institutions that require them to make a version of their manuscript available in a repository, they will be able to share their openly licensed version of record (VOR) into a repository immediately on publication.
What will happen to content already published via the non-OA route?
Where content has already been published via the non-OA route in Development Genes and Evolution prior to the change to full OA and Discover Developmental Biology in January 2025, access to these articles will continue to be governed by the same licence terms as at present; articles which were previously published as subscription will continue to be available for access via institutions or personal subscriptions. If you wish to re-use a subscription article, you can make a request via the ‘reprints and permissions’ link on the article page.
Who can I contact with further questions?
If you have any questions about this transition, our Open Research author support team is happy to help you (ORsupport@springernature.com).