Gold Open Access Charges
at the national and institutional level
in Germany
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Scope of the presentation
Supporting authors with open access funds
► German research organisations support both roads, green and gold
► Many open access journals don‘t operate on article processing charges
► Many institutes support open access journals by providing funds
● For establishing and running their technical infrastructure
● For employing editorial staff
● For enabling researchers to act as editors or reviewers
► Still, authors are often in need of funds to cover „open access publication charges“
● Examples for instruments to assist authors with these charges
● Planned survey for conclusive picture of already existing open access funds
● Outlook
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Example 1: Central contract with a publishing house
Max Planck Society deal with Public Library of Science
► Adresses all corresponding authors with Max Planck affiliation
► PLoS checks affiliation with lists provided by Max Planck Society
● Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine
● Max Planck Institute for Brain Research
● Fritz Haber Institute
easy / hard to identify as MPI
● Bibliotheca Hertziana
► PLoS sends invoice to Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL)
► MPDL verifies authors and covers publication charges
► Same central budget for subscription costs and article processing fees
► No fuss for any of the authors from about 80 Max Planck Institutes
► Easy for publisher to deal with one contact only
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Example 2: Supporting authors directly
Fraunhofer‘s publication fonds
► Authors apply directly for OA funds
► Central unit within Fraunhofer checks
● if the journal is a true open access
journal
● if quality control mechanisms are
established (author needs to provide
information e.g. on peer review)
● if the journal already exists for three
years at least
● if the journal publishes articles on a
regular basis
► Easy application with form sheet
► Enabled already support for OA books
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Example 3: Enabling universities to create open access fonds
The DFG‘s funding instrument „Open Access Publishing“
► Funding directed to the university and thus only indirectly to researchers
► University must use the funding to create or support structures which enable and help
their researchers with open access publications
► Application has to demonstrate that university establishes mechanisms which make it
very easy for the authors to profit from the funds
► Funds can only be used for articles in true open access journals with a severe quality
control
► Universities have to bring 25% of the funds they applied for from their own accounts
► Aim and motivation: help create fixed budgets for open access publication, possibly
arising from a correlation between open access and subscription budgets
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Towards a comprehensive picture of Gold OA monetary flows
Plans for a survey by the German Alliance of Research Organisations
►Yet, overall current situation
● Various (funding) models exist, but they are not implemented broadly
● Funding decisions often adress single publications, but not a systematic support for the
„Golden Road to Open Access“
● Budget planning might be harder for open access than for subscription journals
● Financing multi-author papers with researchers from different institutions might pose
problems
● Researchers are often unaware of funding opportunities
● Lack of experiences and best practise exchange between organisations
► A systematic discussion is needed in order to
● Avoid inefficiencies
● Better support authors
► Approach: survey among organisations
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Towards a comprehensive picture of Gold OA monetary flows
Plans for a survey by the German Alliance or Research Organisations
► Aims
● Overview of currently applied funding models and their volume
● Identification of potential savings and synergies
● Collection of political arguments for shifting of subsidies
● Also: raising awareness for open access throughout organisations
► Issues covered
● Open access support within organisations, policies
● Decision process and criteria for reimbursement of golden open access fees
● Scale of expenses currently spent
● Identification of disciplinary differences
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Lessons learned and outlook
► We need clearly designated responsibilities within organisations in order to enable
● Transparent communication with authors, publishers, and among organisations (libraries,
administration)
● Best practice exchange
● Synergies through better cooperation
● Savings by avoiding multiple payments
● Continuous monitoring of invested funds and cash flows
► Overall aim is to provide authors with an adaequate, low-threshold support service
► Results of survey will help us to get a comprehensive overview and allow well-founded,
concerted further planning for Germany
► International cooperation is required – authors don‘t care much about national borders
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009
Many thanks for your attention
Further information
► on DFG: www.dfg.de
► on all DFG-funded projects: www.dfg.de/gepris/
► on more than 17.000 German research institutes: www.dfg.de/research_explorer/
Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier
Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009