The brief
Springer Nature offers a variety of resources and services related to research protocols, particularly through Springer Protocols and Nature Protocols.
Having recently acquired protocols.io, a secure open access platform for sharing reproducible methods, they wanted to consolidate their publishing in the area – making all protocols published in their peer-reviewed publications available on the platform. As part of this transition, they wished to explore the attitudes of authors and users towards any changes.
The approach
- We conducted 15 online interviews, lasting 45 minutes each, with participants based in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
- All participants had experience of publishing protocols and they all had varying degrees of familiarity with protocols.io.
The value
Shift produced a report outlining protocol authors’ attitudes to the proposed changes for Springer Nature. In our findings and recommendations, we identified any potential challenges that can be mitigated to make the process of transition smoother, as well as noting any key areas to be prioritised in the platform’s subsequent development.
