Springer Nature was formed in 2015 by the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, and Macmillan Education (held by Holtzbrinck Publishing Group) with Springer Science+Business Media (held by BC Partners). Plans for the merger were first announced on 15 January 2015.[8] The transaction was concluded in May 2015 with Holtzbrinck having the majority 53% share.[9]
IPO attempts in May 2018 and Autumn 2020[10] were unfruitful due to unfavorable market conditions.[11][12]
After the merger, former Springer Science+Business Media CEO Derk Haank became CEO of Springer Nature.[15] When he retired by the end of 2017, he was succeeded by Daniel Ropers,[16] the co-founder and long-time CEO of bol.com.[17] In September 2019, Ropers was replaced by Frank Vrancken Peeters.[18][19]
The company is releasing several Policies & Reports,[20] including a Modern Slavery Act statement, a Tax strategy, and a gender pay gap report for Springer Nature's UK operations.[21][22]
Springer Nature is a signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact,[23][24] and has taken steps to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the publishing industry.[25][26][27]
These include becoming carbon neutral as of 2020,[26] organizing its publications into 17 SDG-related content hubs,[28][29] and launching thematic journals such as Nature Climate Change, Nature Energy, Nature Sustainability,[30]Nature Food, Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Water and Nature Cities (appearing 2024).[31] In 2014, the Nature Portfolio series of themed online journals was launched.[32]
Springer's journal Environment, Development, and Sustainability was one of six out of 100 journals to receive the highest possible "Five Wheel" impact rating[33] from the SDG Impact Intensity™ journal rating system, based on an analysis of data from 2016-2020 that assessed relevance to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).[34][35]
Brandsedit
The following major brands belong to the group (see also Subsidiaries):[36]
In 2017, the company agreed to block access to hundreds of articles on its Chinese site, cutting off access to articles related to Tibet, Taiwan, and China's political elite.[38][39]
The company retracted a paper in 2019, in its journal BMC Emergency Medicine due to a dubious peer-review process (a herpetologist could have denied the publication of the paper).[40]
In August 2020, Springer Nature was reported to have rejected the publication of an article at the behest of its co-publisher, Wenzhou Medical University, from a Taiwanese doctor because the word "China" was not placed after "Taiwan".[41][42]
In July 2020, Springer Nature retracted a paper in the journal Society due to a dubious review process and criticism regarding racism.[43]
In November 2021, Springer Nature retracted 44 nonsense papers from the Arabian Journal of Geosciences after a lapse in the peer review process.[44][45]
In August 2023, after an investigation, Springer Nature retracted a paper that claimed there is no evidence of a global climate crisis.[46][48]
^"Türen für Entdeckungen Öffnen" (in German). Springer Nature Group. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
^"Springer Nature created following merger completion". Springer. 6 May 2015.
^"Springer celebrates 175 years since its founding". KnowledgeSpeak.com. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
^
"Do you mean Springer, Springer or Springer?". Springer.com. 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016.
^"Nature publisher to merge with Springer". Times Higher Education. 15 January 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
^Caroline Carpenter (May 6, 2015). "Completed merger forms 'Springer Nature'". The Bookseller. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
^"Springer Nature Said to Kick Off 1 Billion-Euro IPO This Month". Bloomberg.com. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
^Schuetze, Arno (2018-05-08). "Weak demand forces Springer Nature to cancel $3.2 billion float at last minute". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
^Benjamin Robertson, Ruth David, Jan-Henrik Foerster (3 October 2020). "Europe IPO Revival Peters Out as Year's Top German Deal Delayed". Bloomberg.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"About Atlantis Press". Atlantis Press. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
^"Springer Nature Announces CEO Succession: Frank Vrancken Peeters appointed Chief Executive Officer. Daniel Ropers to step down. | Corporate Affairs Homepage | Springer Nature". group.springernature.com.
^"Springer Nature Gender Pay Gap Report – April 2018 - EN | Corporate Affairs Homepage | Springer Nature". group.springernature.com. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
^"SDG Publishers Compact Members". United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^"SDG Publishers Compact". United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
^"Springer Nature and SDSN Release Joint White Paper on How to Narrow the Policy, Research, and Community Divide". UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). 3 May 2021.
^ abAnderson, Porter (5 April 2023). "Springer Nature Issues a New Sustainability Report". Publishing Perspectives.
^"Sustainable Business Summary 2021". Springer Nature. 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
^"Transcript: SDG Content Hub Magic Number Is 17 | CCC's Velocity of Content Podcast". Velocity of Content | A series of recordings from the Copyright Clearance Center. February 21, 2022.
^"SDG 14 Journal Collections and Special Issues incl. Call for Papers | For Researchers | Springer Nature". Springer Nature.
^Butcher, James (1 March 2023). "Scholarly publishers and the SDGs". GEOSCIENTIST.
^"Nature Portfolio to expand with three new journals in 2024 | Springer Nature Group | Springer Nature". Springer Nature. 16 March 2023.
^Rodenburg, Kathleen; Rowan, Michael; Nixon, Andrew; Christensen Hughes, Julia (January 2022). "The Misalignment of the FT50 with the Achievement of the UN's SDGs: A Call for Responsible Research Assessment by Business Schools". Sustainability. 14 (15): 9598. doi:10.3390/su14159598. ISSN 2071-1050.
^Linacre, Simon (17 March 2021). "Cabells launches new SDG Impact Intensity™ journal rating system in partnership with Saint Joseph's University's Haub School of Business". the source.
^Hernández, Javier C. (2017-11-01). "Leading Western Publisher Bows to Chinese Censorship (Published 2017)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
^Hilgers, Lauren (January 10, 2018). "The Mystery of the Exiled Billionaire Whistle-Blower". The New York Times.
^retractionwatch (3 April 2020). "A snake bites once, but its picture is used twice".
^Tang, Jane (1 September 2020). "Springer Nature Journal Rejects Article by Taiwan Doctor Over Country Name". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
^Charlie Parker (October 10, 2020). "Taiwan academics told to identify as Chinese in journal". The Times.
^retractionwatch (31 July 2020). "Springer Nature retracts paper that hundreds called 'overtly racist'".
^Isaac Schultz (6 November 2021). "Science Publisher Retracts 44 Papers for Being Utter Nonsense". Gizmodo.
^Marcus, Adam (November 4, 2021). "Springer Nature geosciences journal retracts 44 articles filled with gibberish". Retraction Watch. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
^ abReadfearn, Graham (25 August 2023). "Scientific journal retracts article that claimed no evidence of climate crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^Readfearn, Graham (2022-06-13). "Sky News Australia is a global hub for climate misinformation, report says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
^Before the paper was retracted, Sky News Australia – a news station priorly outed as a centre for climate change misinformation[47] – published two segments on the paper, which were then subsequently viewed over half a million times on YouTube.[46]