The event, a rich mixture of keynotes, practical examples, and open discussions, was jointly hosted by open-access.network – a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) – and SUB Göttingen. Some 40 researchers, students, library staff, and representatives of the publishing world addressed the question of how scholarly publishing is changing – and what role openness should play in the future. 

The programme began with three presentations: Under the title “For the Good of All: Scholarly Publishing and Open Access”, Linda Martin from BIS – Library and Information System Oldenburg gave an introduction to the fundamentals of the topic, including funding opportunities. In their presentation entitled “To Polish a Diamond”, Sabine Hess and Karl Heyer, co-editors of movements, described their journal’s transformation to diamond open access. The final presentation was delivered by Hannah Böhlke of Göttingen University Press, who provided practical insights into the opportunities for researchers to implement open access. 

The presentations were followed by a free-flow phase with a poster session and informal exchanges. The event concluded with an open discussion in the course of which researchers, representatives of libraries and the publishing world, and students exchanged views on the responsibility of the research community.

Linda Martin, BIS – Library and Information System Oldenburg, opened the event with an overview of the importance of open access in the context of good research practice. She presented key guidance documents, including the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003), the Berlin Declaration of Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003), the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021), and the German Research Foundation (DFG) Code of Conduct “Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice” (2024), and made it clear that open access has long been an key component of research integrity.

Martin explained the various ways of making works available in open access: Gold open access refers to the provision of immediate open access to the version of record (i.e. the publisher’s version) of a work, mostly via the publisher or a repository. Diamond open access functions according to the same principle, except that neither authors nor readers are charged any fees. Green Open Access refers to the self-archiving of a version of a work (usually the author’s accepted manuscript version) in an open access repository, mostly after expiry of an embargo period.

Diamond open access is particularly worthy of mention, as it strengthens the digital sovereignty of the research community. Publications remain independent of commercial publishers, no fees (e.g. article processing charges) are charged for publishing, the works can be used free of charge, and the rights and licences remain with the editors. At the same time, research integrity is guaranteed through quality assurance, long-term archiving, and persistent open licensing.

Regarding international developments, Martin presented the Stockholm Declaration on Reforming Science Publishing (2025), which calls inter alia for the regaining of academic control over publishing, the stronger orientation of incentive systems towards quality, the establishment of independent fraud-prevention mechanisms, and the strengthening of legislative and structural measures to protect science. 

As a concrete example of a regional infrastructure, Martin presented ideas for the planned project NiedersachsenPUBLISHING, which aims to support the development of an open, cooperative digital infrastructure for diamond open access in the federal state of Lower-Saxony. It will include offerings for journals, monographs, and scholarly digital editions (SDEs) and provide advisory services for authors, editors, and project partners. The project will be integrated into the umbrella initiative Hochschule.digital Niedersachsen and aims to show how structural support can strengthen open access.

The presentation “To Polish a Diamond“ by Sabine Hess und Karl Heyer, co-editors of the journal movements, clearly demonstrated how an independent, academically activist project is shaping the path to diamond open access. Under the leitmotif “movements as a raw diamond”, they presented the organisation, technology, finances and consequences of their transformation process.

The journal movements traditionally sees itself as closely linked to activist, social, and scholarly networks. This closeness shapes both the editorial focus and the publishing process. The editorial team is self-organised and cooperates closely with other projects. As the editors retain ownership of the journal, it can act independently of commercial publishers. At the same time, the substantive work always takes centre stage.

On the technical side, when the journal started, the editors developed their own production and publication workflow, which bundled high expertise. Although this specialisation enabled customised quality, it involved a heavy workload, as many tasks were performed by volunteers. Financing is minimal, revenue and expenditure are limited, as are funding opportunities. The editors were therefore often stretched to their limits. Hess and Heyer stressed that the long-term stability of such diamond open access projects requires structural strengthening – be it through funding programmes, service centres, or transregional infrastructure. They are now receiving this with SUB Göttingen’s journal hosting service, which makes a standardised Open Journal Systems (OJS) installation available to them. With their own DOI prefix and the standardised infrastructure, switching service provider would be conceivable at any time, which enables the editors to maintain their scholar-led approach.

Hannah Böhlke from Göttingen University Press presented SUB Göttingen’s comprehensive services. The Göttingen Campus offers researchers publishing advice, support with questions regarding the funding of open access publications, and access to repositories for articles, data, and multi-media content. Furthermore, the library provides tools for research data management and the organisation of publishing processes. Services also include DOI allocation, long-term archiving, and advice on licences and legally watertight reuse. Böhlke made it clear that researchers do not have to tread the path to open access alone, as expertise and numerous resources are available.

In the free-flow phase following the presentations, participants had an opportunity for informal exchanges with Göttingen-based publishers and providers of tools and services over soft drinks. The project open-access.network presented its various services, for example the oa.hub and the oa.atlas, as well as its information web pages. Among those represented at the poster session was the Göttingen Open Access Lounge (GOAL), a network of publishers and university publishing service providers from Göttingen and the surrounding area that publish scholarly works in open access. GOAL promotes exchange between publishing house staff and creates a forum in which experiences, questions, and perspectives on open access can be shared, best practices presented, needs identified, and a network developed that supports the transformation of the publishing world in the long term. In addition, the aim is to deepen the shared understanding of current developments, opportunities, and challenges in scholarly publishing.

The event concluded with an open discussion during which representatives of science and research, libraries, and the publishing world discussed the societal significance of open access. The discussion was opened by Margo Bargheer, SUB Göttingen, with an introductory reflection: Although open access involves challenges such as commercial dominance, price increases, or imbalances, it has considerably improved worldwide access to scientific information. At the same time, open access enables for the first time a transparent look at production conditions, power structures, and costs – and thus raises important questions for the organisation of open science. In the course of the discussion, the participants considered inter alia how the New American Studies Journal, which is published open access by Göttingen University Press, could be supplemented with further publication formats. For example, videos and podcasts could reach new target groups. Participants agreed that the research community should increase its presence on social media platforms, as many people now use them as information media. Here, the research community should not leave the field free for the fast and low-threshold dissemination of misinformation. In this connection, it was suggested that researchers should be made more aware of how to handle social media in order to use it as a further channel for science communication. 

The event made it clear that open access is a key component of good research practice and social responsibility. From basic guidelines, through transformative projects such as movements, to infrastructure services like NiedersachsenPUBLISHING, it became apparent that open access is possible and valuable but that it also relies on commitment, structures, and funding, and that different perspectives must be integrated to ensure a transparent, sustainable, and integrity-oriented publishing system.

Beucke, Daniel; Schima, Julian (2026). Zum Wohle aller? Open Access in Bewegung. open-access.network. https://doi.org/10.59350/cajp1-zjr14