Springer Nature
Springer Nature
Taking Responsibility

Inclusion at Springer Nature

At Springer Nature our mission is to be part of progress – and that begins with inclusion: of people, perspectives, and ideas. We believe that diverse perspectives drive progress, and we are committed to creating an environment where people and ideas can flourish. 

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That’s why we are building an inclusive culture within our organisation where our people can be themselves, thrive and grow. And we extend that commitment to the knowledge we share – working with our partners and communities to support research and learning that is inclusive, globally relevant, and reflective of the world we serve. Because inclusion leads to more robust research, more relevant learning, and better outcomes for society. 

Our commitment to inclusion shapes how we work internally, how we engage with the world, and how we collaborate with others.  

Externally, we aim to reflect the diversity of the world we serve by engaging with a wide range of communities and contributors. We support inclusive editorial practices, broaden access to knowledge, and strive to ensure our content and platforms are relevant and representative.

    At a glance

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    Our commitment to inclusion

    • In our organisation

      We work to create an open, welcoming, and supportive global culture where colleagues can be their true selves, participate equally, and perform at their best. We do this by embedding inclusive practices into our everyday processes and by supporting equity of access and a sense of belonging across our global teams. 

      Employee Networks © Shutterstock / Rawpixel.comCase study: Our Employee Networks 

      Our employee networks are open to all employees to join and participate. They unite colleagues who share an identity with those who support them or who want to learn more about their perspectives and experiences. The networks — with more than 1,800 members â€” focus on building connections between colleagues, raising awareness on important topics, consulting on business initiatives and advocating for their communities at Springer Nature and beyond. In 2024, our networks organised over 180 events across the organisation.

      We support network projects and events with a robust governance structure, sponsorship by senior leaders and additional advice and resources.


      Our work

      Examples of action we’ve taken

      Focusing on recruitment and succession
      • Reviewed our hiring process to identify opportunities for inclusivity
      • Delivered inclusive hiring training to talent attraction teams and hiring managers, developed an Inclusive Hiring Toolkit 
      • Ensured access to diversity-focused job boards for wider reach
      • Expanded the Opening Doors internship programme â€“ offering paid experience in research and science publishing
      Removing barriers to access
      • Designed and launched a global Mentoring Programme across the organisation
      • Participation in the FT Women in Business Forum to support gender equity
      • Joined the Generation Valuable mentoring programme to empower future leaders with disabilities
      • Development of a Global Workplace Adjustments Policy to improve accessibility
      Creating an inclusive culture
      • Developed a Learning Journey and supporting resources to support continuous education on diversity, equity and inclusion for all colleagues
      • Integrated inclusive leadership principles into our leadership development programme
      • Delivered team workshops to support inclusive practices across business areas
      Community building and advocacy
      • Supported our employee networks to build thriving communities.

    • In our communities

      We are committed to using our networks, brands and voice to champion diversity, equity and inclusion in the research, education and professional communities we work with. 

      In recent years, we have taken steps across our portfolio, aiming to improve representation and amplify the voices of underrepresented perspectives, and to make our products and services more accessible. We know there is more to be done and we commit to driving progress. 

      To help us achieve our mission to open doors to discovery for all, we have a strategic framework, outlining where we can make a difference and how we will take action.

      Our strategic focus

      How well do it

      Examples of our action so far

      Share our DEI ambition

      Clearly communicate our position and ambition for DEI by developing and widely sharing the principles on which we base our engagement with our communities and business partners.

      • DEI communications toolkits to support colleague engagement with key stakeholders in our communities.
      • Developed DEI guidelines for educational content and training to accompany them.

      Data driven

      Collect and use reliable data on DEI opportunities in our communities to measure, monitor and further our progress by developing best practices of data collection and reporting.

      • Collected Nature conferences data to improve representation which so far shows we have made year-on-year progress and have achieved a near 50/50 gender division across events, organisers, keynotes, plenaries and short talks. 
      • Launched a new survey to understand what DEI means to our global research community.

      Inclusive and accessible content

      In our published content and events: actively promote DEI by positively profiling the work of authors, researchers and academics from underrepresented groups in all stages of their careers and do so accessibly for all audiences. Promote better research practice through our policies.

      • Developed regression testing software Pa11y to design accessible websites and made sure it was free and open source for others to use including Gitlab and Netlify.

      Increase representation

      For our commissioned authors, peer reviewers and editorial board members: further increase diverse representation by engaging and supporting our external networks.

      • Created guidance to help editors integrate DEI considerations when recruiting editors in chief.

      Understand DEI in our supply chain

      In our supply chain: diversify our publishing supply chain by putting transparent processes in place to create and track new business relationships.

      • Started reaching out to some of our largest suppliers to understand more about DEI in our supply chain.

      Understand structural barriers

      Research and understand structural barriers to equality in the research and education communities we work with, by leveraging our networks, brands, voice and convening power to facilitate the wider sharing and discovery of research, data and perspectives.

      • Convened events on equity with our communities, for example our recent Breaking Barriers for Gender Equity through Research which included a new mentoring scheme for participants and introduced journal mentoring programmes to provide insights and training into the peer review, editorial and publishing process.
      • Conducted a survey of nearly 5,000 researchers to raise awareness of their experiences and perceptions of diversity, equity and inclusion, and collect their suggestions for advancing DEI. The results will be used to redouble our efforts to shape a positive research culture for all.  
      • Launched our first benchmarking report, examining geographic and gender diversity across our community of over 100,000 academic editors, including  Editors-in-Chief (EICs) and other editors for a group of approximately 3,000 Springer Nature journals. The report includes a case study of the diversity of editors on Scientific Reports, the world’s largest journal, comprising over 11,000 editors. The results will help inform our continued action to support our editorial decision makers in diversifying their journals and consequently, the research community.
      Address these barriers with partners

      With our communities, societies, policymakers and funders, address structural barriers to opportunity in publishing by forming partnerships and actively working with others (with focus on the Global South and inherited privilege of elite institutions).

    • In our published content

      Through our research, education and professional publishing business we interact with millions of people every day.  We connect with them as authors, as peer reviewers, as editors of our journals, as readers, as teachers and as users of our platforms. This means that we have the opportunity to influence behaviour on a large scale and affect real change.

      Commitment to DEI in the research we publish

      Action we’re taking

      • We are committed to integrating the values of diversity, equity and inclusion into the way we work and what we create and publish – across our content, products, platforms and services.
      • For example, in our education business, Macmillan Education has developed an Education for Sustainable Development and Citizenship programme for students and teachers. We have also developed a DEI in Research publishing hub with resources and insights for inclusive publishing.
      • Publishing research that is representative of the entire research community and reflects the growing diversity among researchers, enriches our ability to find solutions to challenges in research and beyond. We have a set of principles so that expectations are clear about how we will take a more active role in accelerating progress on equality, diversity and inclusion: read our latest update on delivering these principles across our research publishing business.
      • For example, Nature has released new guidance and practice for reporting on sex and gender in research studies and announced a new approach to inclusion and ethics in global research focused on reducing exploitation practices like helicopter research and ethics dumping.