According to the 2025 Journal Citation Reports, 27 of the world's top 50 journals by Journal Impact Factor were published by Springer Nature. That concentration of excellence invites an obvious question: What does it take to cultivate a journal that reaches the top?

Harsh Jegadeesan, Springer Nature's chief publishing officer, has a disarmingly simple answer. He once asked his predecessors the same question, and the reply was: "There is no overnight success." The company's more than 180 years heritage matters, but heritage alone does not explain the outcome. The formula, Jegadeesan said, rests on three persistent imperatives: continuously publishing high-quality papers, continuously attracting high-quality researchers to submit their work, and continuously building high-quality channels for academic dissemination.

The numbers show what that persistence looks like in practice. In 2025, Springer Nature received 3.1 million submissions of scientific manuscripts, a significant increase over 2024. Of the 539,000 primary research articles it published, more than 53 percent were open access.

It published many significant research papers across a wide range of subjects, including the first AI large language model to undergo peer review, a new wearable system to assist navigation for the blind and partially sighted people, and a digital map of the Roman Empire's road network.

Sustaining quality at that scale, Jegadeesan insists, "is not easy" and requires constant innovation. On two of the most closely watched issues in publishing today — AI policy and open access — Springer Nature was among the first publishers to test the waters. First-mover experimentation carries risk, but it also shapes the standards that others later follow.

For Chinese journals seeking to become top journals, Jegadeesan's advice is unambiguous. From the very first issue, they should think long-term: root themselves in local research strengths, and build with a global vision and a global network of collaborators. A truly top-tier academic journal is by definition global.

Equally important is a sustainable business model. Springer Nature's evolution — from a single subscription model to a mix of subscriptions and open access, and transformative agreements — demonstrates that commercial sustainability is indispensable to building top journals.

In 2025, Springer Nature's revenue reached 1.9 billion EUR with an underlying revenue growth of 6.2 percent. The strong financial performance supported its continued investment in technology and talent, lifting its total investment in these areas since 2021 to 188 million EUR.