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  1. Online-Präsentation der Fachgruppe Open Access in den Künsten der AKMB: Research Catalog der Society for Artistic Research

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  2. Open Access About us
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    Initials of the platform The open-access.net platform provides comprehensive information on the subject of Open Access (OA) and offers practical advice on its implementation. Developed collaboratively by the Freie Universität Berlin and the Universities of Goettingen, Konstanz, and Bielefeld, open-access.net first went online at the beginning of May 2007. Target Groups The platform's target groups include all relevant stakeholders in the science sector, especially the scientists and scholars themselves, university and research institution managers, infrastructure service providers such as libraries and data centres, and funding agencies and policy makers. Quick and efficient access to relevant topics open-access.net provides easy, one-stop access to comprehensive information on OA. Aspects covered include OA concepts, legal, organisational and technical frameworks, concrete implementation experiences, initiatives, services, service providers, and position papers. The target-group-oriented and discipline-specific presentation of the content enables users to access relevant themes quickly and efficiently. Moreover, the platform offers practical implementation advice and answers to fundamental questions regarding OA. Collaborations In collaboration with cooperation partners in Austria (the University of Vienna) and Switzerland (the University of Zurich), country-specific web pages for these two countries have been integrated into the platform - especially in the Legal Issues section. Each year since 2007, the information platform has organised the "Open Access Days" at alternating venues in collaboration with local partners. This event is the key conference on OA and Open Science in the German-speaking area. Updates With funding from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts (MWK) of the State of Baden-Württemberg, the platform underwent a complete technical and substantive overhaul in 2015. Project open-access.network Verein open-access.network e.V....

  3. Open Access Brandenburg: Veranstaltung zum Open-Access-Monografien­fonds Brandenburg

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  4. Open Access Büro Berlin und Forschungs- und Kompetenz­zentrum Digitalisierung Berlin: Workshop Berlin Open GLAM - Open-Access-Praktiken in Berlins Kultureinrichtungen

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  5. Open Access Event calendar
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    We are happy to receive information about events at info@open-access.network 1 2 Next 2026 Aug 20 Governance gestalten: Wie Journals den Diamond Open Access Standard umsetzen 20. August 2026 2026 Sep 17 OJS-Workshop 2026 (Hamburg) 17. September 2026 until 18. September 2026 2026 Sep 21 OASPA Annual Conference (Zagreb, Croatia) 21. September 2026 until 23. September 2026 2026 Sep 28 Open-Access-Tage 2026 (Linz) 28. September 2026 until 30. September 2026 2026 Oct 05 Open Science Forum Mitteldeutschland 2026 (Leipzig) 5. October 2026 Open Science als Gestaltungsaufgabe – Forschungsbewertung und Infrastruktur für die Wissenschaftspraxis 2027 Mar 03 E-Science-Tage 2027 (hybrid) 3. March 2027 until 5. March 2027 1 2 Next To the event archive...

  6. Open Access Financing
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    Learn more about Open Access Financing Research Funders and Open Access Business Models for Journals Business Models for Books...

  7. Open Access Legal Issues
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    Find answers to legal questions here Legal Issues in Germany Legal Issues in Austria Legal Issues in Switzerland Licences Publishing Agreements Data Protection and Open Access Data protection is particularly of interest in the case of the open access publication of research data, or data sharing. In some fields, for example medicine or psychology, data protection in the context of open access is especially important because sensitive personal data may be processed. At European level, data protection is regulated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) . As an EU decree law, it must be applied directly. The GDPR therefore takes precedence over national data protection law. In Switzerland, the Federal Act on Data Protection ( FADP, SR 235.1) applies. For higher education institutions in Switzerland, the data protection laws of the respective cantons are usually applicable. Further information on the topic of data protection and research data can be found on the website forschungsdaten.info ....

  8. Open Access Legal Issues in Switzerland
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    Intro Numerous legal questions arise in connection with open access policies and the operation of open access repositories and open access journals . On this page, you will find information on the legal frameworks in Switzerland that are of relevance in the context of open access . Please note that the content presen­ted here is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Copyright Legal Bases and Sources From a Swiss perspective, the relevant legal bases are the Swiss Copyright Act (CopA) and several international agreements, in particular the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works as amended on September 28, 1979 . Object The object of protection of the Swiss Copyright Act (CopA) are works in the sense of "intellectual creations" ( Art. 2(1) CopA ), irrespective of their embodiment in a copy of the work. In the case of an article, for example, it is not the article in a particular graphical layout that is protected, but rather the article "in and of itself". Intellectual creations enjoy protection under the Swiss Copyright Act only to the extent that they have "individual character" ( Art. 2(1) CopA ). In the case of scientific works, which are specifically mentioned in the act ( Art. 2(2) points a and d CopA ), the individual character is to be found not so much in the content of the work – for the content is strongly determined by material logic – but rather in the concrete linguistic or stylistic presen­tation, in the wording and organisation of the material. As a rule, scholarly publications enjoy copyright protection provided they are not a mere compilation of data. The Swiss Copyright Act comprises a number of partial rights ( Arts 9–15 CopA ). They include, first, the exploitation rights, for example the right to produce and distribute copies of the protected work and to make it avail­able ( Art. 10 CopA ). Moreover, the author has the right to recognition of authorship; the right to decide whether, when, how and under what designation the work should be published for the first time ( Art. 9 CopA ); and the right to the integrity of the work ( Art. 11 CopA ). In addition, there are rights that refer to individual copies of works ( Arts 13–15 CopA ), for example the right of access to the original. The individual rights can in turn be further subdivided. In the case of open access uses, and the agreements concluded in this connection, it is necessary in each case to check exactly which partial rights under Swiss copyright law are affected. There are certain exceptions to copyright ( Art. 19 and seq. CopA ). Provi­ded the use of a work is covered by one of these exceptions, it may take place freely, that is, without the consent of the copyright holder. How­ever, the use of the work may be subject to remuneration (e.g. Art. 20 CopA ). Of interest for open access uses are, in particular, the exceptions with regard to private use ( Art. 19(1) point a CopA ), use in enterprises ( Art. 19(1) point c CopA ), and the making of archive copies ( Art. 24(1) and (1bis) CopA ). Source: Hilty, R. M. and Seemann, M. (2009). Open Access – Zugang zu wissenschaftlichen Publikationen im schweizerischen Recht (Expert opinion on open access commissioned by the University of Zurich). https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-30945 Right of Quotation In accordance with the exception to copyright provided for in Article 25(1) of the Swiss Copyright Act, published works (text, images, audio, film, etc.) may be quoted by anyone if the quotation "serves as an explanation, a reference or an illustration" (so-called documentary function of the quotation). A quotation that serves only as a decorative illustration – for example a figure that has no substantive connection to the text – is not permissible. Moreover, the size of the quotation must be justified by its purpose. In other words, only as much of a work may be quoted as is needed. In individual cases, this may be an entire work, for example a poem, if that is necessary for an analysis of the text. Quoting means using – as a rule, an excerpt from – a protected work , word for word, note for note, etc. Conversely, this means that works that are not, or that are no longer, protected by copyright may be quoted without regard to Article 25 of the Swiss Copyright Act. So-called paraphrasing is not regulated by the exception with regard to freedom of quotation ( Art. 25 CopA ), either. Paraphrasing means merely restating or summarising the meaning of a (protected) textual work in another form. In contrast to quoting, when paraphrasing a text, one restates the content in one’s own words. Quotations must be designated as such, and the source must be given ( Art. 25(2) CopA ). Moreover, provided the author can be determined from the reference, they must be named. A person who does not identify a quotation as such is guilty of plagiarism because they claim to be the author of the text, the image, etc. Authors whose rights are infringed in this way can defend themselves on the basis of Article 68 of the Swiss Copyright Act. Source: Kompetenzzentrum für digitales Recht (n.d.). Grundlagen des Urheberrechts: 5.5 Das Zitatrecht. https://ccdigitallaw.ch/index.php/german/chapters/5/55-das-zitatrecht Making Documents Available in Repositories A question that authors and repository operators alike often ask themselves in practice is: Are we allowed to make this document available to the public in repositories ? Although many publishers allow self-archiving in principle, policies in this regard vary from publisher to publisher. The Open Policy Finder database provides details of publishers’ and journals’ open access archiving policies. Although it is unlikely that a publisher that does not allow a preprint or post-print of a work to be made available online will take legal steps to force its own authors to delete it, it is advisable to be legally on the safe side by checking on a case-by-case basis whether there are any legal impediments to self-archiving. In the following, we provide an overview of the legal aspects that must be considered. Self-Archiving of Articles That Have Already Been Published in a Journal When self-archiving articles that have already been published in a jour­nal, authors are often obliged by the publisher to observe an embargo period between the date of publication and the date on which the work is made available in open access. Other conditions that may be imposed by the publisher relate to the version of the work that may be self-archi­ved, and the inclusion of an addendum acknowledging the published source. For example, it is quite common for publishers to allow the au­thor’s accepted manuscript version (also known as the post-print) to be self-archived in parallel with the publication of the article by the publi­sher. The author’s accepted manuscript (AAM) is the final author ver­sion after peer review and acceptance for publication but before format­ting by the publisher. In contrast to the preprint – that is, the version sub­mitted to the publisher, which has not yet been peer reviewed – the post-print does not usually differ substantively from the publisher’s ver­sion (also known as the published journal article or the version of record). Some publishers now allow immediate self-archiving subject to certain terms and conditions. Authors whose publishing agreements include such passages should state them when depositing their articles in repositories. The passages in question are often specific addenda that are to be attached to the articles when they are being self-archived. Example : If you wish to post your version of this article within your institutional repository please include the following wording: Author Posting. (c) Publisher X, YYYY. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Publisher X for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of XXX, VolumeXX Issue X, Month YYYY. https : / /doi.org/XX.XXXX/XXXXXXX ( Link to the DOI ). In Switzerland, if no agreement on copyright was concluded when the article was being published in a scholarly journal, the provisions of publi­shing contract law contained in the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) apply. Article 382(3) of the Code of Obligations states: "Contributions to collections or anthologies and relatively lengthy magazine articles must not be published elsewhere by the originator within three months of the appearance in print of such contribution or article." Therefore, the authors of scholarly contributions, for example journal articles, may self-archive them in a repository or on another server three months after publication, provided the works deal with a topic in depth. In any case, the author’s accepted manuscript version (post-print) may be used for this purpose. According to the expert opinion by Reto Hilty and Matthias Seemann , the published version (publisher’s PDF, version of record) may also be used, albeit without the publisher’s logo, which is protected by trademark law. However, there is no established judicial practice on the question of format. It should be noted that in international constellations, for example in the case of a document server outside Switzerland, a foreign legal system may apply. Self-Archiving of Contributions That Have Already Been Published in Collections or Anthologies If an agreement on copyright, for example in a written publishing agree­ment, is concluded when publishing a contribution in a collection or an anthology (e.g. in a festschrift), the terms and conditions of that agreement apply. Otherwise, the same holds as for the self-archiving of journal articles: The provisions of publishing contract law contained in the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) apply. Article 382(3) of the Code of Obligations states: "Contributions to collections or anthologies and relatively lengthy maga­zine articles must not be published elsewhere by the originator within three months of the appearance in print of such contribution or article." Therefore, authors may self-archive scholarly contributions, for example book chapters, in a repository or on another server three months after publication, provided the works deal with a topic in depth. In any case, the author’s accepted manuscript version (post-print) may be used. According to the expert opinion by Reto Hilty and Matthias Seemann , the published version (publisher’s PDF, version of record) may also be used, albeit without the publisher’s logo, which is protected by trademark law. However, there is no established judicial practice on the question of format. It should be noted that in international constellations, for example in the case of a document server outside Switzerland, a foreign legal system may apply. Many publishers now allow the self-archiving of such contributions even if the authors were paid a fee. It may therefore be worthwhile to enquire with the publisher. Self-Archiving of Articles That Have Already Been Published in a Newspaper If an agreement on copyright, for example in a written publishing agree­ment, is concluded when publishing an article in a newspaper, the terms and conditions of that agreement apply. Otherwise, in Switzerland, the provisions of publishing contract law contained in the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) apply. Article 382(2) of the Code of Obligations states: "Newspaper articles or relatively short passages of magazine copy may be published elsewhere by the origina­tor at any time." This means that topical reports, for example newspaper articles, may be made available to the public in a repository or on another server at any time. In any case, the author’s accepted manuscript version (post-script) may be used. According to the expert opinion by Reto Hilty and Matthias Seemann , the published version (publisher’s PDF, version of record) may also be used, albeit without the publisher's logo, which is protected by trademark law. However, there is no estab­lished judicial practice on the question of format. It should be noted that in international constellations, for example in the case of a document server outside Switzerland, a foreign legal system may apply. Self-Archiving of Published Monographs If an agreement on copyright, for example in a written publishing agree­ment, is concluded when publishing a monograph, the terms and condi­tions of that agreement apply. Otherwise, in Switzerland, the provisions of publishing contract law contained in the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) apply. Article 382(1) of the Code of Obligations states: "As long as the editions of the work to which the publisher is entitled have not yet been exhausted, the origina­tor may not make other arrangements regarding the work or parts there­of to the publisher’s detriment." Therefore, authors may not make works such as monographs or textbooks available in open access in a reposito­ry in competition with the publisher as long as the edition is still in print. The self-archiving of versions that cannot be properly cited, and are there­fore no real competition, is permitted. Such versions include, for example, files without original page numbers in disciplines where citations include exact page numbers. It should be noted that in international constellations, for example in the case of a document server outside Switzerland, a foreign legal system may apply. In the case of older monographs, it is worthwhile to enquire with the publishers, as it is possible that publication of the book has been discontinued or that the publishers have no objection to the monograph being deposited in a repository. Dissertations Most Swiss universities facilitate the digital publishing of dissertations. As a rule, responsibility for digital publishing lies with the university libraries, where you will obtain the information you need. Authors are entitled to publish their dissertations under the terms of an open licence . However, if parts of the dissertation have already been – or are to be – published elsewhere, the terms and conditions of the corresponding publishing agreements or the dispositive statutory provisions must be complied with, and the submission instructions of the respective journals or publishers must be observed. It may therefore be appropriate to make only individual parts of the dissertation available in a repository and to withhold access to other parts. Moreover, the doctoral regulations of the respective universities or faculties apply. International Constellations Within the limits laid down by the Swiss Federal Act on International Private Law (PILA) and the Lugano Convention , authors and publishers may reach an agreement on jurisdiction and applicable law. In the absence of such an agreement, it must first be clarified whether Swiss jurisdiction applies, which is the case, for example, if the author against whom an action has been brought, is domiciled in Switzerland. The competent court in Switzerland then determines the applicable law in accordance with the Swiss Federal Act on International Private Law (PILA). A distinction should be made here between matters of contract law (that concern a publishing agreement) and specifically copyright matters (that concern copyright). In matters of contract law, the legal system of the state where the publisher has its establishment applies ( Art. 117(2) PILA ). In copyright matters, the principle of the law of the country where protection is sought applies ( Art. 110(1) PILA ). If, for example, the removal of a certain publication from a repository in Switzerland is requested, Swiss law applies; in the case of a repository in Germany, German law applies. Liability Law Liability for Copyright Infringements on the Internet The Internet-based channels of scholarly communication also give rise to the question of who is liable in the event of an infringement for the infor­mation that has been made available to the public. It is important to de­termine the consequences under liability law that may arise for the ope­rators of repositories, or for authors who make their documents avail­able online. In this way, the liability risks can be assessed in advance and limited by means of appropriate practices or contractual arrangements. Liability Risks when Operating Institutional Repositories The tasks of institutional repositories generally comprise depositing, managing and making available to the public documents produced by scholars and scientists of the respective universities or research organi­sations. When a document is registered in an institutional repository, it is not available online immediately. Rather, it undergoes quality assurance procedures, the extent of which vary from repository to repository. They may range from checking the metadata, through indexing and catalo­guing, to substantive checks (on quality assurance in electronic archives in general, see the DINI Certificate for Open Access Publication Services 2019 and CoreTrustSeal ) Legal Consequences for Repository Operators If repository operators make scholarly works accessible without holding the necessary copyrights, they are guilty of an infringement of copyright. In this case, in Switzerland, legal remedies are available to the entitled party under Article 61 and seq. of the Federal Copyright Act (CopA). In particular, the entitled party may bring an action against the repository operator requesting that the infringement of copyright be remedied ( Art. 62(1) point b CopA). Thus, the repository operator may be obliged to remove the works in question from the repository. Also possible are financial consequences because of actions brought un­der the Swiss Code of Obligations; these actions remain reserved under Article 62(2) CopA . The main issue here are claims for damages with which, for example, the publisher wants to be compensated by the repo­sitory for the loss of profits resulting from the copyright infringement ( Art. 62(2) CopA in conjunction with Art. 41 and seq. CopA ). However, the entitled party must be able to prove this loss, which is likely to be difficult in practice because the establishment of a causal relationship between the action of the repository operator and losses on the part of the publisher will hardly be possible. The holder of the infringed partial right ( Art. 62 (1) CopA ) or of an exclu­sive copyright licence ( Art. 62 (3) CopA ) is entitled to institute procee­dings. In the case of the making available of a work in a repository, the rights in question are the online rights, which are usually held by the author or the publisher. Thus, it is usually the author or the publisher that is entitled to institute proceedings Under Swiss law, the defendants may not only be the operator of the repository but also other persons who participated in the copyright infringement. In other words, not only may the principal infringer be sued but also instigators or accomplices (see Art. 50(1) of the Code of Obligations ). If the online rights in a work are held, for example, by the publisher, and if the author nevertheless made the work available to the public in a repository, both the author and the repository operator may be sued. In the case of a claim for damages, the repository operator and the author would then be jointly and severally liable ( Art. 50(1) of the Code of Obligations). The claimant may choose the party against whom they wish to bring an action and may decide whether they wish to request partial or full performance of the obligation from that party ( Art. 144(1) of the Code of Obligations ). Shifting the Legal Consequences to the Author Repository operators may contractually pass on to the author the risk of being sued for monetary damages because of infringements of the rights of third parties. This is done by means of a contractual clause whereby the author undertakes to hold the repository harmless in the event of legal claims by third parties – that is, to bear the costs incurred or to pay possible compensation for damage. From a practical point of view, it should be borne in mind that shifting the risk to the author in this way may reduce the attractiveness of the reposi­tory, and that fewer authors may be willing to make their works available to the public in the repository as a result. For authors, it is probably not always clear from their publishing agreements with publishers whether they are entitled to self-archive the works in a repository in parallel with publication. Therefore, the way in which liability for infringements is distributed is a key point in the agreement between the author and the repository operators. Where no agreement on liability for infringements has been made bet­ween the repository operators and the author, the repository operators have recourse against the author only to the extent that the author is jointly responsible for the copyright infringement (and could therefore also be sued directly). Such joint responsibility is usually present if the document was deposited by the author themselves or with their consent. The respective shares that must be assumed by the repository operators and the authors are determined in the particular case by the court at its discretion ( Art. 50(2) of the Code of Obligations ). In this context, the repository operators are classified as content provi­ders, whose service goes beyond the mere technical storage and making available of documents that is performed by mere access providers. However, even a content provider is liable only to the extent that they failed to take possible and reasonable measures to prevent the infringe­ments of rights. Repository operators can be reasonably expected to cla­rify the entitlement to the individual works under copyright law, and, if they are informed of infringements, to endeavour to remedy them. However, it would not be reasonable to expect repository operators to furthermore take note of the content of each individual work. Liability Risks When Self-Archiving on a Website Self-archiving in the sense of self-posting refers to the individual, non-standardised archiving and making available to the public of publications, for example on the website of a university department or an institute, or on a private website. Possible infringements when self-posting include in particular the viola­tion of intellectual property rights, for example the copyrights or moral rights of third parties. When university members self-archive their works on their personal websites, the question of the responsibility of the university does not arise provided it does not operate the website and is not responsible for the content of the publication. Open Access Helpdesk Ask your specific questions about Open Access here. References Hilty, R. M. und Seemann, M. (2009). Open Access - Zugang zu wissenschaftlichen Publikationen im schweizerischen Recht (Rechtsgutachten zu Open Access, erstellt im Auftrag der Universität Zürich). https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-30945 Kompetenzzentrum für digitales Recht (n.d.). Grundlagen des Urheberrechts: 5a.6 Das Zitatrecht. https://www.ccdigitallaw.ch/56-utilisation-doeuvres-orphelines/?lang=de Bundesversammlung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (2020). Bundesgesetz über das Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte – Urheberrechtsgesetz (URG) . https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1993/1798_1798_1798/de Bundesversammlung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (2021). Bundesgesetz betreffend die Ergänzung des Schweizerischen Zivilgesetzbuches – Fünfter Teil: Obligationenrecht. https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/27/317_321_377/de Bundesversammlung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (2021). Bundesgesetz über das Internationale Privatrecht (IPRG). https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/1988/1776_1776_1776/de Further Reading Kompetenzzentrum für digitales Recht (n.d.). Grundlagen des Urheberrechts. https://ccdigitallaw.ch/index.php/german Content editor of this page: André Hoffmann, Zurich University Library (Last updated: August 2021)....

  9. Open Access Policy Frameworks
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    Intro Open Research Europe Graphic: Open Research Europe in Action. Source: Open Research Europe (2021). faster-h2020.eu The key takeaways from this article are 1 The main players in the policy area of open access in Europe and Germany, respectively, are the European Commission, the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR; until 2025 called the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF), and the governments of the federal states. 2 Through various policy measures, these players promote and expect open access to knowledge. 3 At the level of the German federal states, different trends in the areas of open access and open science are emerging. Practical tip The presentation “ Open Access unterstützen – Praxistipps für Landesregierungen ” lists measures with which the governments of the German federal states can practise and support open access. Object of Governance, Subject of Policy Discussion The topic of open access and the formulation and implementation of open access policies are the subject of policy discussions and negotiation processes. Who are the driving forces, and what are their positions? Open access policies are driven both from the top down – especially from the European level to the level of the national states and federal states – and from the bottom up, by committed scholars and scientists, scientific institutions, and open access initiatives. Important milestones in the debate on open access to information are (see also the History of the Open Access Movement ) are : the Declaration of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002) , the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) . Further milestones include: the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) the Amsterdam Call for Action on Open Science (2016) , The Vienna Principles: A Vision for Scholarly Communication in the 21st Century (2016) , the Jussieu Call for Open Science and Bibliodiversity (2017) , Plan S (2018) the Action Plan for Diamond Open Access (2022) . Many national and supranational institutions, for example the European Union (EU), the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR; until May 2025 called the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF), federal state ministries, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), and to some extent also universities and non-university research institutions, play a dual role in this regard. As political actors, they participate through various interventions and measures in negotiation processes on open access; at the same time, they are also research funders , and in that capacity, they directly set standards and framework conditions. In what follows, we provide an overview of the main state actors in the policy area of open access. In each case, we briefly explain how free access to scientific knowledge is enabled or promoted by policy regulations in the respective contexts. Kindling, M., Martin, L., Neufend, M., & Wenninger, A. (2022). Open Access Atlas Deutschland: Status Quo in Bund und Ländern (1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6472672 Supranational Level At the supranational level, the European Commission (EC) and the European Research Council (ERC) provide important stimuli for the implementation of open access and open science. In 2021, UNESCO also adopted a Recommendation on Open Science . Governance of Open Access in Europe As early as 2012, the European Commission issued a Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information, in which it called on Member States to implement clear and binding open access policies. According to the recommendation, it should be mandatory to provide open access to publications resulting from publicly funded research, preferably immediately but no later than 6 months after the date of publication in the case of the natural sciences and 12 months in the case of the humanities and social sciences. Although European Commission recommendations are not binding, the majority of the 27 EU Member States (inter alia Belgium , Greece , Italy , Croatia , Latvia , Malta , Poland , Portugal , Slovakia , Slovenia , Spain , Czech Republic , Hungary ) and three non-member States ( Norway , Serbia, and Switzerland ) have by now adopted open access and open science strategies. In the area of research funding , the European Commission requires funding recipients to provide open access to research publications resulting from funded projects (see also Horizon Europe ). [MG1] Error 404 bei Slovenia. [PSM2] Danke – das hier scheint der richtige Link zu sein: https://www.openaire.eu/community/blogs/slovenia-open-science-in-the-recently-adopted-resolution-on-the-slovenian-scientific-research-and-innovation-strategy-2030 Open Access in Germany In contrast to many other European countries, Germany does not have a uniform national open access policy. In its coalition agreement for the legislative period 2021–2025 , the previous German Federal Government undertook to strengthen open access and open science and to establish open access as a common scientific standard. This was duly taken into account with the adoption in 2023 of Joint Guidelines of the Federal Government and the Länder for the implementation of open access in Germany (Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2023 ). In the coalition agreement of the current federal government in 2025 , open access is not explicitly mentioned; however, access to scientific research is to be facilitated by a research data act. Federal Ministry of Education and Research At federal level in Germany, the amendment of the Copyright Act (UrhG) in 2013 created the legal framework for green open access by implementing an inalienable secondary publication right ( Pflüger, 2016 , p. 14). In 2016, the then German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; renamed the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space, BMFTR, in May 2025) published a strategy for open access in Germany , which was updated in 2018. The aim of the updated strategy is to further establish open access as the standard for scholarly publishing and to close the gap between the scientific community’s desire for more open access publications and current publishing practice ( Federal Ministry of Education and Research, 2018 , p. 7). According to the strategy, various ways of providing open access should be allowed in principle, and academic freedom should remain untouched. Furthermore, publications resulting from publicly funded research should be openly accessible, and established quality assurance procedures should be ensured. Whereas the transposition into concrete policies is the responsibility of the individual federal states, the BMBF, in its capacity as a funding agency, set guidelines: Research projects funded by the BMBF – or its successor, the BMFTR – are expected to publish their results and their research data in open access . Besides scientific and scholarly institutions and libraries, funding recipients also include private sector actors, such as publishers and other service providers, that are establishing themselves in the open access landscape. Open Access at Federal State Level Because of the sovereignty of the federal states in the area of education and higher education policy, the adoption and implementation of open access and open science policies in Germany takes place mainly at federal state level (Kindling et al., 2022). These federal state policies are thus central elements of the open access transformation in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kindling et al., 2021). Some states, for example Baden-Württemberg , Berlin , Brandenburg , Hamburg , and Schleswig-Holstein have state strategies, which in some cases define concrete objectives. These objectives include, for example, an open access quota for journal articles, as well as open access officers and open access policies at all institutions ( Berlin ); the monitoring of open access publication figures ( Thuringia ); the adoption of a clear position on open access by university managers ( Brandenburg ); and a uniform technical infrastructure ( Hamburg ). Some federal state governments support open access through other instruments of higher education governance. For example, support for open access is mentioned in the science plan ( Bremen ), in the higher education development plan ( Saxony ), or in the digital strategy ( Rhineland-Palatinate , Saxony-Anhalt , Hesse ) of the respective federal states. Other federal state governments support the scientific institutions in their states through targeted measures, for example openaccess.nrw in North Rhine-Westphalia; through an open access publication fund ( Thuringia , Lower Saxony ); through open access networking units ( Berlin , Brandenburg ); or by funding openness as a cross-sectional topic ( Bremen ). Although other federal states have not yet adopted an explicit science policy position, many institutions already have well-established open access service offerings (e.g. Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate) (Kindling et al., 2021).The Bundesländer-Atlas (Kindling et al., 2021), the oa.atlas federal state dossiers (2024), and the Open4DE Landscape-Report ( Bärwolf et al. 2023 ) also provide an overview of current and past open access and open science activities of the German federal states. Open Access in Austria and Switzerland Open Access in Austria In Austria, various open access initiatives emerged at a national level at an early stage (see the History of the Open Access Movement ). For example, in 2014, in cooperation with the Austrian Science Fund ( FWF ), the Austrian Academic Library Consortium ( KEMÖ) , as one of the first national library consortia worldwide to do so, concluded an open access agreement with a publisher (see Mayer 2022, p. 47). The FWF had already introduced its own open access policy in 2004, with a strong recommendation to publish works open access. In 2012, Open Access Network Austria (OANA; since 2022: OSA – Open Science Austria ) was founded as a joint national networking initiative on the part of the FWF and Universities Austria ( uniko ). OANA subsequently drew up a number of recommendations, inter alia for a national open access strategy (2016) and a national open science strategy (2020). Following the publication of the 2016 recommendations paper , many research institutions published open access policies. The 2020 recommendations served as a basis for the national Open Science Policy Austria , which was adopted in 2022. A secondary publication right was incorporated into law in 2015 (see also Legal Issues in Austria ). In 2019, the national funding initiative “Digital and Social Transformation in Higher Education” of the then Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research enabled the launch of several digitalization projects with a focus on open access, for example AT2OA2 . In its Government Programme 2020–2024 , the Austrian Federal Government gave a clear commitment to open access and actively supported Plan S for the implementation of open access. The current Government Programme 2025–2029 does not focus explicitly on open access or open science. Open Access in Switzerland According to the strategic vision of the Swiss Higher Education Policy Coordination 2025–2028 (Gesamtschweizerische Hochschulpolitischen Koordination 2025–2028 ), 100% of scholarly publications from Swiss universities will be made available in open access. In particular, swissuniversities , the umbrella organisation of universities in Switzerland, plays the role of a superordinate actor for the promotion of open access. As a funding institution, swissuniversities supports various open access projects . The Swiss National Open Access Strategy published in 2017 was updated in 2024. In the updated strategy, swissuniversities and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) set the framework conditions for the country’s open access transformation. The Open Science Delegation coordinates cooperation between the stakeholders. Besides this national strategy, the Swiss Library Network for Education and Research ( SLiNER ) published National Open Access Policy Guidelines in 2019, which serve as recommendations for the institutional open access policies of Swiss universities. In 2023, 86% of universities in Switzerland had an open access policy (see swissuniversities, 2023). Eleven partner institutions are collaborating to create a national diamond open access consortium ( CoDOA ) to enable the long-term and sustainable funding of diamond open access journals. The groundwork for enshrining a secondary publication right in law is currently in progress. References Bärwolff, T., Benz, M., Dreyer, M., Neufend, M., Kindling, M., Kirchner, A., & Schmidt, B. (2023). Open4DE landscape report . Open-Access-Büro Berlin. https://doi.org/10.21428/986c5d43.bab38f02 Federal Ministry of Education and Research. (2023). Open access in Germany. Joint guidelines of the Federal Government and the Länder . https://www.bmftr.bund.de/SharedDocs/Publikationen/DE/FS/772970_Open_Access_in_Deutschland_en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4 Federal Ministry of Education and Research. (2018). Open Access in Deutschland. Die Strategie des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung [Open access in Germany. The strategy of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research]. https://www.bildung-forschung.digital/files/2018-08-Open_Access_neu_barrierefrei.pdf Kindling, M., Neufend, M., & Wenninger, A. (2021). Bundesländer-Atlas Open Access . Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5761153 Kindling, M., Martin, L., Neufend, M., & Wenninger, A. (2022). Open Access Atlas Deutschland: Status Quo in Bund und Ländern (1.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6472672 Kindling, M., Martin, L., & Neufend, M. (2024). oa.atlas: Konzept . Open-Access-Büro Berlin. https://doi.org/10.21428/986c5d43.54fbd167 Mayer, K. (2022). Open Access im Wandel. Infrastrukturen, Monitoring und Governance als zentrale Elemente einer erfolgreichen Transformation. Baseline Report zur Open Access Transformation in der Wissenschaft . Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI), Vienna. https://doi.org/10.22163/fteval.2022.533 Pflüger, T. (2016). Open Access-Regulierung im internationalen Vergleich. In T. Dreier, V. Fischer, A. van Raay, & I. Spiecker [known as Döhmann] (Eds.), Informationen der öffentlichen Hand: Zugang und Nutzung (1st ed., Vol. 3, pp. 537–562). Nomos. https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/handle/123456789/37572/Pflueger_0-395438.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y swissuniversities. (2023). Open access strategy review. Background report . https://www.swissuniversities.ch/fileadmin/swissuniversities/Dokumente/Hochschulpolitik/Open_Access/OA_Strategie/OA_Strategy_Review_Background_Report.pdf UNESCO. (2021). UNESCO recommendation on open science . https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5741832 Further Reading Fuhrer, C., & Schurte, R. (2018). Nationale Open Access-Strategie in der Schweiz: Herausforderungen für die Hochschulen und ihre Bibliotheken. In Zentralbibliothek Zürich, A. Keller, & S. Uhl (Eds.), Bibliotheken der Schweiz: Innovation durch Kooperation: Festschrift für Susanna Bliggenstorfer anlässlich ihres Rücktrittes als Direktorin der Zentralbibliothek Zürich (pp. 97–118). De Gruyter Saur. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110553796-004 German Science and Humanities Council. (2022). Recommendations on the transformation of academic publishing: Towards open access . https://www.wissenschaftsrat.de/download/2022/9477-22_en.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=0 Taşkın, Z., Melinščak Zlodi, I., Laakso, M., Torny, D., Arasteh, S., Bargheer, M., Klaus, T., Schima, J., Agnoloni, T., Peruginelli, G., Davidson, A., Franczak, M., María Ángeles, C. B., de Pablo Llorente, V., Dobson, H., & Heyman, J. (2024). D5.2 National overviews on sustaining institutional publishing in Europe . Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683953 Verdicchio, D., Kissling-Näf, I. (2020). Digitale Transformation und Open Access von Forschungsresultaten in der Schweiz. In J. Schellinger, K. Tokarski, & I. Kissling-Näf (Eds.), Digitale Transformation und Unternehmensführung (pp. 11–27). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-26960-9_2...

  10. Open Access in Mathematics
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    What is Open Access? Find an introduction here. Source: based on Brinken, H. (2021). 10 Gründe für Open Access. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4643859 ( CC BY 4.0 International ) Open Access in Mathematics In contrast to their peers in many natural science or technical disciplines, mathematicians still draw on older literature when investigating current research questions. Open access in mathematics is therefore not restricted to current research results but also includes older literature. Retrodigitisation and open access to this digital content thus play an important role in this discipline. Another difference between mathematics and most natural science disciplines is the acceptance of literature that has not undergone scientific quality control. For example, in 2006, Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal for a series of three papers proving the Poincaré conjecture, which he had published only on the preprint server arXiv . Because these papers were published open access, Perelman’s proof could be checked by various groups, even without undergoing classical peer review . Mathematicians are highly critical of rising journal prices. Thus, it is not surprising that in this field in particular, researchers often call for, and also participate in, boycotts of scholarly publishers (e.g. The Cost of Knowledge ). Open Access Journals As of November 2025, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) listed 815 entries under Mathematics . Article processing charges (APCs) are often viewed critically. For this reason, open access mathematics journals often use business models without APCs. Many of these journals are published directly by scientific institutions or professional associations. Examples include: Journal de l'École Polytechnique – Mathématiques Documenta Mathematica Because, as mentioned above, older literature is of great importance in mathematics, older journal volumes are often made freely available online even if the current volumes are closed access and thus subject to a fee. In these cases, the moving- wall model is often used: for a certain period of time (e.g. the first five years after publication) access is fee-based; after expiry of this embargo period , access is free. When publishing works in open access journals, care should be taken – also in mathematics – to avoid predatory publishing . What are Open Access Journals? Find an introduction here. Practical Tip Publishing Open Access: How to evaluate a journal's quality Video on the Funding of Open Access Articles Source: Becklas Dorow, C., Hauss, J. (2026). Funding Open Access Articles – What Are the Options?. Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB), open-access.network. https://doi.org/10.5446/73596 ( CC BY 3.0 DE ) open-access.network (2026) ( CC BY 4.0 International ) What are Open Access Books? Find an introduction here. open-access.network (2026) ( CC BY 4.0 International ) Open Access Books As of November 2025, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) listed 95 titles under “ Mathematics “ and 207 titles under “ Mathematics & science “ , while OAPEN listed around 70 titles under “ Mathematics “ . Most books in mathematics are published with publishers that have traditional business models, and open access books are still a peripheral phenomenon. Disciplinary Repositories The most important repository in mathematics is arXiv , a preprint server for physics, mathematics, and related disciplines (see our Physics page). As arXiv grew in importance, the once-longstanding practice whereby authors published their preprints on their institutions’ websites was abandoned. Many repositories in mathematics no longer publish any new preprints (one exception: the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics’ MPIM Preprint series ). Mathematics research data can be conveniently deposited in Zenodo or in disciplinary repositories, which can be found, for example in the Registry of Research Data Repositories, re3data . In addition, there are a number of open access repositories with retrodigitised mathematics literature, the most important of which are: Göttinger Digitalisierungszentrum (GDZ) : contains, among other things, the Collection Mathematica , in which the Göttingen State and University Library’s entire historical mathematics collection up to and including the year 1900 is made accessible. NUMDAM : is located at the Université Grenoble Alpes and contains many French and Italian journals. Although access is free, embargo periods vary from journal to journal. The University of Michigan Historical Mathematics Collection: contains monographs published in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Historical Math Monographs (Cornell University Library) Project Euclid (Cornell University): hosts e-journals, many of which are open access. The Open Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) provides an overview of these and other repositories. What are Repositories? Find an introduction here. Legal Aspects Find an introduction here, Video über das Zeitveröffentlichungsrecht Quelle: Brehm, E. (2021). Zweitveröffentlichungsrecht für Wissenschaftler*innen, open-access.network. https://doi.org/10.5446/51789 ( CC BY 3.0 DE ) Practical Tip Finding Open Access Literature (in German) Open Access Helpdesk You are welcome to contact our Helpdesk of you have any questions about Open Access. oa.finder The oa.finder shows you from tens of thousands of journals which are Gold Open Access, whether they charge APCs and how high these are. You can also view the funding modalities of your own institution. Other Useful Offerings The information platform zbMATH OPEN (formerly known as Zentralblatt MATH) has been open access since 2021. Open and reusable interfaces ensure the networking and sharing of scientific information. The goal is to establish the platform as a crucial hub in an open global mathematics library. The European Digital Mathematics Library ( EuDML ) is another open access research tool. Furthermore, within the framework of the Committee on Electronic Information and Communication (CEIC) of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) , efforts are being made to develop a World Digital Mathematics Library (WDML) in which the entire mathematics literature would be indexed, interlinked, and made accessible and reusable in the long term. zbMATH OPEN is a first step in this direction. To ensure the scientific quality of open access articles, the Episciences project provides a free platform on which contributions can undergo peer review. In this way, articles deposited in arXiv can undergo scientific quality control. Open Science in Mathematics Mathematical methods are also increasingly being applied successfully in interdisciplinary research and are therefore widespread. For example, mathematical models, parameters, data, and numerical algorithms are used in machine learning. Mathematical research data have thus become very complex, multifaceted, and unwieldy. The publication of these resources in open access is therefore highly beneficial for interdisciplinary research. However, especially in the area of data sciences, huge computing capacity is sometimes required (see the Mathematical Research Data Initiative, MaRDI, 2021). Traditionally, proving theorems is a central element of the publishing culture in mathematics. These proofs must be completely understandable to readers within the contribution itself. In open access publications, all content is already freely available. For a long time, there was therefore no need to provide supplementary research data. However, as digitalisation advances, automated theorem-proving procedures , visualisations, and other types of mathematical research data are increasingly emerging, and the open accessibility of these resources is becoming more and more important. Mathematical research data are very complex and diverse. The MaRDI Knowledge Graph , which is currently being developed, links many open access sources of mathematical research data. Besides the Knowledge Graph, other research data services tailored to the mathematics community can be found on the MaRDI Portal . Software developed in mathematics is often versioned and made available via Github , which has been part of Microsoft since 2018. Public GitHub repositories can be accessed without prior registration. However, to upload one’s own data, registration is necessary; the basic functions of the service are available free of charge. Many universities and research institutes offer Git instances of their own, based, for example, on the open source platform GitLab. Some journals that cover the computationally intensive areas of mathematics, for example numerics, already check the reproducibility of the code and software components of papers. One example is Computational Science and Engineering , a gold open access journal with its own Code Review Board. Efforts are being made to extend this to other areas of mathematics. open-access.network ( CC BY 4.0 International ) Further Reading Boege, T., Fritze, R., Görgen, C., Hanselman, J., Iglezakis, D., Kastner, L., Koprucki, T., Krause, T., Lehrenfeld, C., Polla, S., Reidelbach, M., Riedel, C., Saak, J., Schembera, B., Tabelow, K., & Weber, M. (2022). Research-data management planning in the German mathematical community [Preprint]. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2211.12071 Das, P. K. (2017). Anatomy of open access mathematics journals. Journal of Information and Knowledge, 53(6), 447–454. https://doi.org/10.17821/srels/2016/v53i6/98585 Hanselman, J. (2025). Guidelines for writing and reviewing mathematical software. Notices of the AMS. https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202507/noti3210/noti3210.html Taubert, N. (2021). Green open access in astronomy and mathematics: The complementarity of routines among authors and readers. Minerva, 59, 173–194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-020-09424-3 Teschke, O. (2018, December). Green, gold, platinum, nickel: On the status of open access in mathematics. EMS Newsletter. https://ems.press/content/serial-article-files/10613?nt=1 Content editor of this page: Dr Gernot Deinzer, Regensburg University Library . Last revision of content: Tabea Bacher, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MiS) , with the kind support of Britta Schneemann, MPI MiS (as of November 2025)....

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