Scoop: Trump admin cuts contracts with scientific publishing giant
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Photos: Springer Nature
The Trump administration has terminated millions worth of funding for Springer Nature, a German-owned scientific publishing giant that has long received payments for subscriptions from National Institutes of Health and other agencies, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: President Trump and MAGA have made a push to target academic institutions as well as research organizations perceived to be the source of so-called "woke" ideology, including DEI and gender-affirming care policies, by withholding federal funding and in some cases initiating legal action.
State of play: Earlier this year, the Justice Department sent a letter to a Springer publication questioning its editorial practices and accusing the publishing house of acting as a partisan in scientific debates, as well as wrongfully advocating for positions, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
- The letter also posed questions about Springer's alleged ties to China, CCP funding and related claims of censorship.
- At least one other scientific journal, Chest, also received a letter about taking sides in scientific debates, as the Washington Post reported in April.
- Springer Nature has more than 3,000 journals and publications, and its portfolio includes Nature and Scientific American. The editorial content ranges from science and medical news to peer-reviewed research papers written by scientists. The company went public last October.
Prior to the administrative action, Donald Trump Jr. had tweeted "No more taxpayer money for woke publishers!" linking to a Breitbart story about possible cuts to government-funded subscriptions for scientific and medical journals.
- About $20 million in grants covering subscriptions have been cut, with billions more being evaluated, according to the source.
Springer Nature declined to comment.
- After this story was first published, an HHS spokesperson said: "All contracts with Springer Nature are terminated or no longer active. Precious taxpayer dollars should not be used on unused subscriptions to junk science."
- A spokesperson for the White House didn't respond to requests for comment.
Zoom out: Over the last year, Springer Nature has issued hundreds of retractions of faulty research that it published in open access journals due to compromised peer-reviewed processes and other quality and reliability concerns.
- The company this month announced a new transparent peer review process for research papers accepted for publication in Nature.
Between the lines: Free speech advocates have questioned the propriety of the Trump administration alleging bias, and whether that could have a chilling effect on editorial decisions.
Editor's note: The story was updated subsequent to publication to include a statement from HHS.
