Open Access in Vocational Education and Training Research
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: Pros and Cons Find an introduction here. Open Access Publishing and Self-Archiving Find out about how to publish and self-archive Open Access. 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 in Vocational Education and Training (VET) Research The term vocational education and training (VET) research covers research works that deal with vocational learning, VET institutions and systems, vocational and labour market development, the learning-conducive design of work processes, and skills development. The disciplines that contribute to VET research include, in particular: educational sciences/vocational and business education business administration economics of education psychology/occupational psychology sociology/occupational sociology Because of the interdisciplinary nature of VET research, scholarly works in this area are characterised by multidisciplinarity. Articles in scholarly journals are the most frequent form of publication in VET research. Journal articles account for over half of the works indexed in the VET Repository , a disciplinary repository for VET research operated by the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). Although printed books, the traditional form of publication in VET research, are on the decline, they nonetheless continue to play an important role in this field. Overall, a trend towards open access publishing can be observed in VET research, and there are now a number of purely open access journals, for example Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik – online (bwp@) . From 2018 to 2021, the BIBB addressed the topic of open access within the framework of the research project “Open Access in der Berufsbildungsforschung“ (Open Access in VET Research, OABBF ), which investigated the factors that play a role for authors when it comes to the acceptance, spread, and use of open access. The results of that project suggest that reservations towards open access persist in VET research. These reservations relate to reputation and the visibility of research results. Interdisciplinary and inter-institutional communication and information on open access should be expanded in the future to enhance the image of open access in VET research and dismantle any prejudices (see Getz et al., 2022; Getz & Rödel, 2026). Open Access Journals As of December 2025, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) listed 16 entries under “ vocational training ”. Relevant open access journals in VET research include: Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik Online (bwp@) International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET) Journal of Technical Education (JOTED) Zeitschrift für Weiterbildungsforschung - Report (ZfW) Journal for Labour Market Research Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training DENK-doch-MAL.de DJI Impulse: Das Forschungsmagazin des Deutschen Jugendinstituts weiter bilden: DIE Zeitschrift für Erwachsenenbildung Further information can be found in a German-language guide to scholarly publishing in VET research journals entitled Wissenschaftliches Publizieren in Zeitschriften der Berufsbildungsforschung (Linten et al., 2023). What are Open Access Journals? Find an introduction here. Practical Tip Publishing Open Access: How to evaluate a journal's quality 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 December 2025, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) listed 219 titles under “vocational training”, while OAPEN listed 2,714 titles under the same keyword. In addition, as of December 2025, the full texts of 5,280 books were freely available in the VET Repository of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). Disciplinary Repositories The most important disciplinary repository for VET research is the VET Repository . Operated by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), it was launched in 2019 as a disciplinary repository for VET research. In addition to monographs, its holdings include journal articles and contributions to edited collections. Since 2025, the VET Repository also serves as a publishing platform . Via an upload function, it offers authors an opportunity to publish works for the first time or to self-archive already published works. Further repositories with contributions from VET research include: SSOAR EconStor peDOCS 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 if 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 Offerings On the left-hand side you can find helpful services and tools to inform yourself about specific questions on Open Access. References Getz, L., Langenkamp, K., Weiland, M., Rödel, B., & Taufenbach K. (2022). Wissenschaftliches Publizieren in der Berufsbildungsforschung. Empirische Befunde im Kontext von Open Access. In Ertl, H. & Rödel, B. (Eds.), Offene Zusammenhänge: Open Access in der Berufsbildungsforschung (pp. 49–64). Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). urn:nbn:de:0035-vetrepository-780892-5 Getz, L., & Rödel, B. (2026). Open Access und Reputation. Widersprüchliche Befunde in der Berufsbildungsforschung. In Y. Fadeeva, S. Franz, D. Kampkaspar, M. Seltmann, T. Steyer, & N.-O. Walkowski (Eds.), Reputation ohne Paywall? Wissenschaftliches Publizieren im digitalen Wandel (pp. 62–79). Melusina Press. https://doi.org/10.26298/1981-5838 Linten, M., Rödel, B., Taufenbach, K., & Woll, C. (2023). Wissenschaftliches Publizieren in Zeitschriften der Berufsbildungsforschung . Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) . urn:nbn:de:0035-1048-3 Further Reading Ertl, H., Rödel, B., & Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (Eds.). (2022). Offene Zusammenhänge: Open Access in der Berufsbildungsforschung (1st edition). Verlag Barbara Budrich. https://www.bibb.de/dienst/publikationen/de/18249 Content editor of this page: Dr. Bodo Rödel, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) (last updated: December 2025)....
