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About open access publishing

Open access aims to ensure the free availability and re-usability of scientific information online, especially of scientific publications.

Specifically, free availability and re-usability mean that publications are accessible without any restrictions, e.g. of a technical, legal or financial nature, and that anyone is able to receive, copy, print and distribute them. The copyrights remain, of course. The granting of Creative Commons licences, for example, ensures legal certainty when dealing with open access publications. Two main approaches to open access have become established: full open access and green open access.

Full Open Access

In this approach, publications are made available in open access when they are published. As such open access is essentially the primary form of publication. This can take place via fully open access journals or repositories.
 

Green Open Access

In the green approach, the publication initially appears behind what is known as a paywall, for example in a subscription-based journal. Only after an embargo period has ended can this publication then be made available in open access via a repository. This approach is therefore also referred to as secondary publication or self-archiving.

One starting point for the open access movement was the criticism of the so-called double funding of science by the public sector.

Most academic/scientific authors work at a public university or research institution and are therefore funded by the public sector. The publication of their research findings, usually supported by further public funding, is an integral part of their work; it could therefore be said that most academic/scientific publications are financed from public funds.

Publishers then make these available in publications that have to be paid for, which the university and research institution libraries must then use public funding to purchase or license so that they can be made available to the research community.

Taken to the extreme, one could say that the public sector buys publications that it has already financed itself.

Moreover, the peer-review process is carried out by the researchers for free and the authors themselves are often responsible for the layout. So-called printing subsidies are the norm in most disciplines, even for online publications, and journal licensing prices are rising sharply from year to year.

Open access pursues the goal of moving away from the traditional payment model of scientific publications, mostly in the form of subscription-based journals. Instead, all publications should be freely available for anyone to use at any time from the moment they are published. This public access can be financed through various models, of which the so-called APC model is the most common. Article Processing Charges (APC) are paid for the publication of an article and used by publishers and repository operators to cover their costs.

Open access aims to contribute to an open information society in which all people can participate equally in scientific progress.

In addition, there are some very practical advantages of open access publishing.

Advantages for authors:

  • Greater visibility through free online access to the publication
  • Good findability of the publication via search engines and verification services
  • Increased awareness of the article/publication in society and among practitioners
  • Wider reception and therefore also increased citation frequency
  • Shorter publication time of digital works compared to print publications
  • Long-term availability of publications
  • Ideally, exploitation rights remain with authors

Advantages for research and teaching:

  • Unhindered, free access to current research findings
  • Legally compliant re-usability of content
  • Acceleration of the research process
  • Fostering of international and interdisciplinary collaboration
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