Springer Nature SciGraph: Supporting open science and the wider understanding of research

Pioneering semantic platform with Linked Open Data will serve the needs of the research community

Heidelberg | London, 9 March 2017 

Springer Nature is giving a boost to researchers with the launch of its new Springer Nature SciGraph. The new Linked Open Data (LOD) platform aggregates data sources from Springer Nature and cooperating partners, making it easier to analyze information related to Springer Nature publications. With the implementation of Springer Nature SciGraph, Springer Nature strengthens its role in connecting people with the most relevant and important information so that more can be learned and discovered. Following SharedIt and Recommended, Springer Nature SciGraph is now the third in a series of industry-pioneering initiatives launched by Springer Nature in the past six months.

Springer Nature plays a strong and progressive role in enabling the research community to take full advantage of all that open research offers. The publishing group is now in the vanguard of LOD providers in the science publishing industry and has assumed a leading role among open data publishers and open research supporters.
 Springer Nature SciGraph collates information from across the research landscape, such as funders, research projects and grants, conferences, affiliations, and publications. Currently the knowledge graph contains 155 million facts (triples) about objects of interest to the scholarly domain. Additional data, such as citations, patents, clinical trials, and usage numbers will follow in stages, so that by the end of 2017 Springer Nature SciGraph will grow to more than one billion triples. The vast majority of these datasets will be freely accessible and provided in a way to enable experts to analyze downloaded datasets using their own machines, or via exploration tools on the Springer Nature SciGraph website which is being continuously enhanced.

Whether you want to understand which conferences are taking place in subject areas with rising funding, or discover which Springer Nature articles cite your colleagues, or analyze the distribution of authors by country in a given field of interest, Springer Nature SciGraph openly provides the data necessary.

Henning Schoenenberger, Director Product Data and Metadata at Springer Nature, said, “Researchers are at the focus of our attention. The merger to Springer Nature has put the company in a position to be one of the most progressive publishers in our field, thereby better serving the needs of the research communities. Our vision is to support the scholarly domain by creating the largest state-of-the-art linked data aggregation platform. We increase content discoverability and provide data tools and services for researchers, authors, editors, librarians, data scientists, funders, conference organizers, and many others by adding value across all content types.”

“During the project, our leading priority has always been to be as open with the data and as passionate with support for applications as possible. Using linked data technologies is an established approach to data integration, metadata management, and dissemination. We are proud to say that this new product has been implemented with cutting-edge semantic web technologies, allowing us to create tools to maximize the reach and relevance of the research that we publish,” added Markus Kaindl, Senior Manager Semantic Data at Springer Nature.

The new platform is also the result of an intense and fruitful collaboration with Digital Science, which supported the development of core infrastructure functionalities. Digital Science, Unsilo and InfoChem are contributing to the project by providing high-quality and reliable datasets. In addition, Ontotext provides a reliable semantic graph database that offers fast data loading and efficient data updates. To engage with the Linked Open Data research community and to encourage re-usage of this newly created dataset, Springer Nature will organize a hackathon in London in the second quarter of 2017. Furthermore, the dataset will be published prior to this event to allow the exploration of the various connections of Springer Nature’s publications. More information about this data release can be found on www.springernature.com/scigraph. 

London Book Fair, Tuesday, 14 March 2017, 10 am: Springer Nature SciGraph's lead data architect Michele Pasin and semantic technology vendor Ontotext will be giving the joint presentation explaining Springer Nature SciGraph features and its technical approach.

Springer Nature advances discovery by publishing robust and insightful research, supporting the development of new areas of knowledge and making ideas and information accessible around the world. Key to this is our ability to provide the best possible service to the whole research community: helping authors to share their discoveries; enabling researchers to find, access and understand the work of others; supporting librarians and institutions with innovations in technology and data; providing quality publishing support to societies; and championing the issues that matter – standing up for science, leading the way on open access and being powerful advocates for the highest quality and ethical standards in research. As a research publisher, Springer Nature is home to trusted brands including Springer, Nature Research, BioMed Central, Palgrave Macmillan and Scientific American. For more information, please visit springernature.com and @SpringerNature.