How can invoices for publication charges be labelled and captured across departments? This question was discussed at the end of May 2024 at the third online workshop in the series "Finanzielle Gestaltung der Open-Access-Transformation an Hochschulen und Wissenschaftseinrichtungen" [Financial Organisation of the Open Access Transformation at Universities and Scientific Institutions]. With over 180 participants, the event – a joint offering on the part of Bielefeld University Library and Helmholtz Open Science Office within the framework of the BMBF-funded project open-access.network – was very well attended.

The workshop was specifically addressed to tandems of colleagues from the libraries and finance departments of the same institutions. The lightning talks dealt with cross-departmental cooperation with the aim of capturing invoices for publication charges for the entire institution, thereby advancing the open access transformation.

Recommendations on the capture and processing of publication charges from the Austrian project AT2OA² were the topic of the first presentation. The project deliverables included information materials that help to train finance department staff to recognise publication charges – for example on the basis of keywords.

The next two presentations, which were delivered by members of the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), comprised, first, a practical example of a library workflow for the central processing of open access publication charges. Second, a member of the GFZ Finance Department outlined how SAP reports can be used to control publication charges.

The final lightning talk was a presentation of the open source software CODA (Customizable Open Access Database Application) developed by TU Braunschweig, which enables the detailed capture, processing, and administration of publication-charge-related data.

The over 180 participants from finance departments and libraries then had an opportunity to exchange their own experiences of working together to capture and assign publication charges. One important point was the communication and networking between the libraries and the finance departments. For, especially with a view to the cross-departmental processing of invoices for publication charges, a shared language is an important basis for the introduction of a transparent information budget. In the concluding discussion, several tandems of colleagues reported on their experiences when establishing joint workflows. The exchange regarding the various perspectives on invoice capture in the departments and the practical examples received particularly positive feedback from the participants.

The slides of the presentations delivered at the workshop have been published in open access and are linked on the event web page.

Dammann, K., & Schultze-Motel, P. (2024). Ein Ziel, zwei Abteilungen: Bibliotheken und Finanzverwaltung im Austausch über Rechnungserfassung von Publikationskosten. open-access.network. doi.org/10.64395/g4tqt-xac47.