Springer Nature, a leader in open access books, has extended its partnership with Qatar National Library to deliver the Middle East’s first Open Access (OA) book agreement. The deal strengthens the partners’ shared OA vision to increase access to research and advance knowledge, following on from a joint Transformative Agreement in 2019.
The new agreement enables authors1 affiliated with any institute of higher education or non-profit research institute within Qatar to receive funding for book processing charges (BPC) when publishing their book OA with Springer Nature. It marks the eighth2 OA book agreement for the publisher and its fourth institutional OA book agreement. With OA books being downloaded ten times more often, and cited 2.4 times3 more than non-OA books, this agreement signals a key step towards enabling researchers from participating institutions to reach a wider audience. The agreement covers all Springer Nature book imprints4 and will run for three years.
Speaking of the partnership Asdaa Kotani, Vice President Institutional Sales, said:
“We have been supporting the research community in Qatar since 2012 and our partnership with the Qatar National Library dates back to the landmark signing of the Middle East’s first Transformative Agreement in 2019. We are thrilled to announce the signing of this OA book agreement that underscores our shared commitment to driving forward a sustainable open research environment. We see this partnership as a key step in broadening the reach and ensuring sustainability of OA publishing for books within the region, and across Springer Nature’s diverse portfolio of resources and solutions.”
“Today marks a new milestone in the Library’s journey to further cement its role in preserving the nation’s and region’s heritage and enabling the people of Qatar to positively influence society by creating an exceptional environment for learning and discovery. Open access is at the heart of our mission to provide equal access to information and services, promote research, and advance knowledge exchange. As with the transformative agreement from 2019, the Qatar National Library consortium is now the first consortium in the Middle East to implement such an OA agreement. We are excited about the open access books agreement, and we hope this signals our goal of supporting more open access book publications in Qatar, especially in the humanities” said Dr Alwaleed Alkhaja, Head of Open Access and Copyright.
