65 Springer Nature (incl. BMC) journals with no APC
Springer Nature (incl. BMC) publishes 65 open access journals that charge authors nothing, according to the DOAJ: no APC and no other fees, usually because a learned society, university or funder pays the costs. 32 of them are indexed in Scopus and ranked by SCImago (29 in Q1 or Q2). Data snapshot: October 2026.
Of the Scopus-ranked journals here, 91% are Q1 or Q2 (site-wide: 40%). Their median self-reported time from submission to publication is 18 weeks. Most are published in Singapore (30), Switzerland (16) and United Kingdom (16). The largest subject areas are Engineering, Agricultural and Biological Sciences and Computer Science. 100% accept manuscripts in English and 2% accept at least one other language.
All 65 Springer Nature (incl. BMC) journals with no APC
Sorted by best SCImago quartile, then SJR. Click a column header to sort by it; click a second column to add a tiebreak. The search box narrows the list. Time to publish is the journal’s own DOAJ figure (average weeks from submission to publication).
| # | Journal | Quartile | SJR | H-index | Publisher | Country | Time to publish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Living Reviews in Solar Physics 1614-4961 | Q1 | 8.871 | 79 | Springer | Switzerland | 20 wk |
| 2 | Journal of Biomedical Science 1021-7770 · 1423-0127 | Q1 | 3.601 | 130 | BMC | United Kingdom | 14 wk |
| 3 | Visual Intelligence 2097-3330 · 2731-9008 | Q1 | 3.434 | 17 | Springer | Singapore | 30 wk |
| 4 | Carbon Neutrality 2788-8614 · 2731-3948 | Q1 | 2.179 | 28 | Springer | Switzerland | 10 wk |
| 5 | Stress Biology 2731-0450 | Q1 | 1.712 | 25 | Springer | Singapore | 12 wk |
| 6 | Horticulture Advances 2948-1104 | Q1 | 1.601 | 12 | Springer | Singapore | 18 wk |
| 7 | Smart Construction and Sustainable Cities 2731-9032 | Q1 | 1.361 | 14 | Springer | Singapore | 15 wk |
| 8 | Urban Informatics 2731-6963 | Q1 | 1.104 | 8 | Springer | Singapore | 30 wk |
| 9 | Autonomous Intelligent Systems 2730-616X | Q1 | 0.997 | 16 | Springer | Singapore | 21 wk |
| 10 | Quantum Frontiers 2731-6106 | Q1 | 0.957 | 11 | Springer | Singapore | 10 wk |
| 11 | Human-Centric Intelligent Systems 2667-1336 | Q1 | 0.903 | 17 | Springer Nature | Netherlands | 27 wk |
| 12 | Low-Carbon Materials and Green Construction 2731-6319 | Q1 | 0.868 | 11 | Springer | Singapore | 12 wk |
| 13 | Laboratory Animal Research 1738-6055 · 2233-7660 | Q1 | 0.842 | 30 | BMC | United Kingdom | 8 wk |
| 14 | Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences 1658-077X | Q1 | 0.788 | 73 | Springer | Switzerland | 23 wk |
| 15 | AI in Civil Engineering 2097-0943 · 2730-5392 | Q1 | 0.761 | 11 | Springer Nature | Singapore | 20 wk |
| 16 | Holistic Integrative Oncology 2731-4529 | Q1 | 0.701 | 10 | Springer | Singapore | 25 wk |
| 17 | Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Applied Sciences 1658-8185 | Q1 | 0.626 | 21 | Springer | Switzerland | 15 wk |
| 18 | Animal Diseases 2731-0442 | Q1 | 0.537 | 15 | BMC | United Kingdom | 12 wk |
| 19 | Journal of Ethnic Foods 2352-6181 · 2352-619X | Q1 | 0.536 | 44 | BMC | United Kingdom | 16 wk |
| 20 | Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Engineering and Architecture 1658-8150 | Q1 | 0.368 | 11 | Springer | Switzerland | 15 wk |
| 21 | Israel Journal of Health Policy Research 2045-4015 | Q2 | 0.613 | 34 | BMC | United Kingdom | 28 wk |
| 22 | Journal of King Saud University: Engineering Sciences 1018-3639 · 2213-1558 | Q2 | 0.601 | 65 | Springer | Switzerland | 18 wk |
| 23 | Chinese Neurosurgical Journal 2057-4967 | Q2 | 0.559 | 19 | BMC | United Kingdom | 10 wk |
| 24 | Journal of Cotton Research 2096-5044 · 2523-3254 | Q2 | 0.552 | 24 | BMC | United Kingdom | 15 wk |
| 25 | Asian Review of Political Economy 2731-5835 | Q2 | 0.534 | 5 | Springer | Singapore | 8 wk |
| 26 | BMC Proceedings 1753-6561 | Q2 | 0.519 | 29 | BMC | United Kingdom | 10 wk |
| 27 | Water Science 1110-4929 · 2357-0008 | Q2 | 0.507 | 31 | Springer Nature | Switzerland | 18 wk |
| 28 | Marine Development 3004-832X | Q2 | 0.466 | 6 | Springer | Singapore | 16 wk |
| 29 | Urban Lifeline 2731-9989 | Q2 | 0.422 | 6 | Springer Nature | Singapore | 13 wk |
| 30 | Renal Replacement Therapy 2059-1381 | Q3 | 0.358 | 25 | BMC | United Kingdom | 19 wk |
| 31 | Journal of Rare Diseases 2731-085X | Q4 | 0.153 | 6 | Springer | Singapore | 27 wk |
| 32 | Scientific Journal of King Faisal University: Basic and Applied Sciences 1658-0311 · 1658-8371 | Q4 | 0.136 | 11 | Springer Nature | Switzerland | 12 wk |
| 33 | Agricultural Products Processing and Storage 3059-4510 | – | – | – | Springer Nature | Singapore | 16 wk |
| 34 | Anesthesiology and Perioperative Science 2731-8389 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 19 wk |
| 35 | Architectural Intelligence 2731-6726 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 29 wk |
| 36 | Asthma Research and Practice 2054-7064 | – | – | – | BMC | United Kingdom | 20 wk |
| 37 | Business Research 2198-2627 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 13 wk |
| 38 | Cancer Convergence 2366-6196 | – | – | – | BMC | United Kingdom | 36 wk |
| 39 | Chinese Journal of Cancer 1000-467X · 1944-446X | – | – | – | BMC | United Kingdom | 12 wk |
| 40 | Clinical Cancer Bulletin 2791-3937 | – | – | – | Springer Nature | Singapore | 17 wk |
| 41 | Crop Health 2948-1945 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 14 wk |
| 42 | Digital Economy and Sustainable Development 2731-9423 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 20 wk |
| 43 | Discover Chemistry 3005-1193 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 25 wk |
| 44 | Discover Cities 3004-8311 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 17 wk |
| 45 | Discover Civil Engineering 2948-1546 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 17 wk |
| 46 | Discover Electrochemistry 3005-1215 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 16 wk |
| 47 | Discover Electronics 2948-1600 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 8 wk |
| 48 | Discover Forests 3059-2666 | – | – | – | Springer Nature | Singapore | 20 wk |
| 49 | Discover Geoscience 2948-1589 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 16 wk |
| 50 | Discover Oceans 2948-1562 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 15 wk |
| 51 | Discover Plants 3005-1207 | – | – | – | Springer Nature | Singapore | 20 wk |
| 52 | Discover Robotics 3059-3204 | – | – | – | Springer Nature | Singapore | 29 wk |
| 53 | Discover Sensors 3005-1851 | – | – | – | Springer Nature | Singapore | 29 wk |
| 54 | Discover Soil 3005-1223 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 18 wk |
| 55 | Egyptian Journal of Critical Care Medicine 2090-7303 · 2090-9209 | – | – | – | Springer | Germany | 42 wk |
| 56 | Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 1742-7622 | – | – | – | BMC | United Kingdom | 28 wk |
| 57 | Frontiers of Urban and Rural Planning 2731-6661 | – | – | – | Springer | Germany | 25 wk |
| 58 | Intensive Care Research 2666-9862 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 23 wk |
| 59 | Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Medical Science 1658-4740 | – | – | – | Springer | Switzerland | 16 wk |
| 60 | Management System Engineering 2731-5843 | – | – | – | Springer | Singapore | 16 wk |
| 61 | Moore and More 2097-616X · 3004-8680 | – | – | – | Springer Nature Singapore | Singapore | 22 wk |
| 62 | Neural Development 1749-8104 | – | – | – | BMC | United Kingdom | 14 wk |
| 63 | One Health Advances 2731-9970 | – | – | – | BioMed Central | United Kingdom | 25 wk |
| 64 | Propulsion and Energy 2948-2089 | – | – | – | Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. | Singapore | 43 wk |
| 65 | Surgical and Experimental Pathology 2520-8454 | – | – | – | BMC | United Kingdom | 37 wk |
Where these journals come from
Top countries of publication
- Singapore 30
- Switzerland 16
- United Kingdom 16
- Germany 2
- Netherlands 1
Top subject areas (Scopus-ranked)
About this list
Publisher names are matched on the publisher field in the DOAJ (which often names the society or university that owns the journal) and in SCImago, so imprints and subsidiaries are grouped together. Always confirm the current fee policy on the journal’s own website before submitting.
Diamond open access (also called Platinum) means the journal is free to read and free to publish in: the DOAJ records it with “APC: no” and “other fees: no”. Quartiles come from the latest SCImago edition: Q1 is the top 25% of journals in a subject category, Q4 the bottom 25%; the lists show a journal’s best quartile. Read more in our open access guide.