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  1. EOSC Future Open Days

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  2. Implementing Open Access
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    Intro Open Access in 60 Sekunden Quelle: Brinken, H., Hauss, J. & Rücknagel, J. (2021). Open Access in 60 Sekunden, open-access.network. https://doi.org/10.5446/50831 ( CC BY 3.0 DE ) The key takeaways from this article are 1 The introduction of open access should be strategically and jointly implemented by the management and the library. 2 Institutions that implement open access should clearly demonstrate their commitment to open access with an open access policy. 3 Infrastructure offerings to scholars and scientists for the practical implementation of open access are essential. Implementing Open Access Open access improves access to scholarly information and enhances the visi­bility of scholarly institutions. Although the principles of open access are fully accepted and valued by researchers ( Dallmeier-Tiessen et al., 2011; Ross-Hellauer et al., 2017 ), concrete measures are needed to implement open access in practice. What Political Standpoints are There on Open Access? Find an introduction here. Open Access Policies 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 ) Practical Tip In the practical tip Open Access unterstützen - Praxistipps für Hochschulen (German only) you will find tips on how Open Access can be supported by universities. Role of University Management Support by management is an important prerequisite for the successful intro­duction and implementation of open access at an institution. The adoption of a clear position, for example in the form of an open access policy , underscores the fact that providing open access to research results is valued and supported by the institution. In this way, the sustainable use of available resources, and if necessary their redeployment, can be centrally promoted. In the practical implementation of open access at an institution, it is crucial that management cooperate with the library and the data centre, because, as a rule, it is there that the measures are implemented and the services provided. Role of Libraries Libraries are important players in the area of open access. They are reliable intermediaries in the supply of literature and information, and they handle the acquisition and provision of both print and electronic media. At many institu­tions, together with the data centre, they take on a large part of the practical implementation of open access offerings, for example as operators of theses servers and repositories , by supporting the establishment of open access journals , or by establishing university presses themselves. In most cases, they are also responsible for administering open access publication funds . As a rule, libraries are also the ones that create an awareness about and drive the transition to open access. They are in close contact with the departments and know their interest in and needs for open access offerings. In addition, they are familiar with the range of discipline-specific offerings and requirements in the area of open access. In what follows, we outline concrete measures for the introduction and implementation of open access. Here, intensive cooperation between the institution’s library, researchers, data centre, and management is expedient. The implementation of open access involves not only the provision of a technical infrastructure but also comprehensive, target-group-specific marketing activities relating to open access. Practical Tip In the practical tip Open Access unterstützen - Praxistipps für Hochschulbibliotheken (in German) you will find tips on how Open Access can be supported by universities. The following measures have proved effective in implementing open access: Signing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities The Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities can be signed by research performing and research funding organisations , as well as cultural institutions (e.g., libraries or museums). If interested, institution managers should contact the President of the Max Planck Society . By signing the Declaration, an institution commits to promoting scientific discourse through the consistent use of electronic channels of communication and to making scholarly knowledge accessible to the widest possible public. Adopting an Open Access Policy An institutional commitment, for example in the form of an official policy on open access or open science, is the most sustainable way of imple­menting the open access idea at an institution. In addition to expressing the institution’s commitment to open access/open science, this policy usually calls on the members of the institution to make their publications available in open access. This can be done either by publishing the works open access ( gold open access ) or by self-archiving the publications in an institutional repository. An exemplary structure and core content of a policy document are summarised on our webpage Open Access Policies . ROARMAP lists the open access mandates and policies of universities, research institutions, and research funders throughout the world. Institutions can also create their own systems of incentives for open access. For example, open access can also be included as a criterion for the performance-oriented allocation of funds. Appointing an Open Access Officer Besides drafting an institutional open access policy, the appointment of an open access officer as a central contact person for open access topics is recommended. Open access officers act as intermediaries between the library and the interests of the researchers; they play an advisory role, and are comprehensively informed about trends in scholarly publishing behaviour across disciplinary boundaries. The National Open Access Contact Point, OA2020-DE, has compiled a list of the open access officers at German universities and research institutions . The Train-the-Trainer Workshops offered by the project open-access.network provide information materials and training courses for open access officers. Conducting Information Events An institutional commitment to open access alone is not enough. It is also important to make it clear to all members what this commitment means for them in concrete terms. The topic of open access should therefore also be discussed at the level of departments, institutes, and working groups. When marketing open access, it is thus important that information transfer be broad and take place at all levels. International Open Access Week takes place every year in the third week of October. During Open Access Week, the topic of open access is addressed at many different locations worldwide in order to promote open access to knowledge and information resulting from publicly funded research and to provide information on site. Open Access Week provides institutions with a good opportunity to inform their members about open access. A range of reusable information materials can be found on our Materials page and in the Zenodo Community of the project open-access.network . Information videos about open access can be found in the open-access.network series on the TIB AV Portal . Building and Integrating a Repository When implementing open access, besides strategic and communicative measures, concrete infrastructure services that enable open access docu­ments to be appropriately archived and showcased are also necessary. Theses and document servers, operated as a rule by the institution’s library, are now the norm at most institutions. Institutional repositories offer university members professionally comprehensive publication services. These services range from the publication of dissertations and series, through the self-archiving of articles and monographs, to the archiving of video recordings, posters, and presentation slides. Detailed information on building and operating repositories can be found on our Repositories page. In the focus group Zweitveröffentlichung [Self-Archiving] , providers of self-archiving services have the opportunity to exchange information and experiences on practical and legal issues. Examples of institutional publication services include KOPS , the institu­tional repository at the University of Konstanz; GRO.publications / GRO.­data for text and data publications of the research institutions in Göttingen; and the TIB AV-Portal for scientific videos at the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB). Supporting the Establishment of Scholarly Presses and Journals at the Institution University presses are primarily devoted to the publications of their own institutions. When distributing traditional books, they aim to offer high quality at fair prices. Besides print publications, university presses also publish online editions, thereby supporting the principle of open access. As a rule, responsibility for operating these scholarly presses lies with the university libraries, which thus not only acquire scholarly content but also offer publication opportunities themselves. The majority of German-language university presses have joined together in the Arbeitsgemein­schaft der Universitätsverlage (working group of the German-language university presses), which has produced, among other things, useful information materials and guidelines on various aspects of open access publishing . In addition, institutions can support their researchers in establishing their own open access journals . Many libraries offer advisory services on or provide assistance with matters relating to the concrete implementation of open access journals. Detailed information on establishing and operating open access journals can be found on our Publishing Open Access Journals page. The focus group scholar-led.network offers a forum for independently published journals and editors collectives whose free-of-charge publica­tions are produced independently of major publishers. Setting Up an Open Access Publication Fund Dealing with open access publication charges is crucial for the further strategic and organisational development of the scholarly information supply. A dedicated budget for publication charges, as well as funda­mental decisions concerning the handling of open access publication charges, are expedient and can be an effective instrument for reorgani­sing economic relationships between the scholarly institution and publishers. Many institutions provide an institutional open access publication fund for this purpose; it is often administered by the institution’s library. From this fund, the institution pays the open access article processing charges (APCs) or book processing charges (BPCs) incurred by its researchers. Libraries lend themselves to the role of publication fund administrator because they have years of experience in working with publishers, and thus have the necessary contacts. The specific challenges involved in setting up and operating open access monograph funds are addressed by the focus group Open-Access-Monographiefonds [Open Access Monograph Funds] . Anchoring Open Access in the Entire Institution To implement open access in a sustainable and comprehensive way, it is important to raise open access awareness beyond the levels of the management and the library. Researchers, doctoral candidates, students, and research support staff should therefore be included in PR and marketing measures. This applies especially to those areas of the administration that deal with the requirements of research funding agencies and the measurement of scholarly output. In addition, the open access idea can be spread sustainably if it is suggested to young scholars and scientists at an early stage, for example at study seminars or in graduate programmes. References Dallmeier-Tiessen, S., Darby, R., Goerner, B., Hyppoelae, J., Igo-Kemenes, P., Kahn, D., Lambert, S., Lengenfelder, A., Leonard, C., Mele, S., Nowicka, M., Polydoratou, P., Ross, D., Ruiz-Perez, S., Schimmer, R., Swaisland, M., & van der Stelt, W. (2011). Highlights from the SOAP project survey. What Scientists Think about Open Access Publishing . ArXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5260 Ross-Hellauer, T., Deppe, A., & Schmidt, B. (2017). Survey on open peer review: Attitudes and experience amongst editors, authors and reviewers. PLOS ONE, 12 (12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189311 Further Reading Canadian Association of Research Libraries. (2020). CARL Institutional Open Access Policy Template and Toolkit . Version 1.0. https://www.carl-abrc.ca/oa-policy-template-and-toolkit/ European Commission. (2012). Online survey on scientific information in the digital age . http://dx.doi.org/10.2777/36123 Fournier, J., Klages, T., & Pampel, H. (2012). Open-Access-Strategien für wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen: Bausteine und Beispiele . Arbeitsgruppe Open Access der Schwerpunktinitiative Digitale Information der Allianz der deutschen Wissenschaftsorganisationen. https://doi.org/10.2312/allianzoa.005 Harvard Open Access Project (HOAP). (2021). Good practices for university open-access policies . Cyber.Harvard.edu. https://cyber.harvard.edu/hoap/Good_practices_for_university_open-access_policies Jacobs, N. (2019). Implementing open access. Practical steps your institution can take to make progress on the open access journey . Jisc. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/implementing-open-access Jisc. (2019, October 21). Managing your open access costs . Jisc. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/managing-your-open-access-costs Pieper, D. (2020). Kostenmonitoring von Open-Access-Publikationen: Chancen und Herausforderung für Bibliotheken . Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4118210 Rösch, H., Geschuhn, K., Barbers, I., Bove, K., Pohlmann, T., & Satzinger, L. (2022). Open Access ermöglichen: Open Access-Transformation und Erwerbung in wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken – ein praktischer Leitfaden . https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6090208 Wissenschaftsrat (2022). Empfehlungen zur Transformation des Wissenschaftlichen Publizierens zu Open Access; Köln. https://doi.org/10.57674/fyrc-vb61 ....

  3. Implementing Open Access
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    Here you find out how to put open access into practice Starting and Publishing an Open Access Journal How do I operate a repository Implementing Open Access Converting Journals to Open Access...

  4. Online-Workshop am 09. Februar 2022

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    Wir wollen mehr Open Access wagen! Wege, Modelle und Services für die Politikwissenschaft Der Online-Workshop "Wir wollen mehr Open Access wagen! Wege, Modelle und Services für die Politikwissenschaft" findet am 9. Februar 2022 von 10:00 bis 14:30 Uhr statt. Veranstaltet wird er im Rahmen des BMBF-geförderten Projekts open-access.network gemeinsam vom Open-Access-Büro Berlin und dem Fachinformationsdienst Politikwissenschaft - Pollux . Ob Aufsatz, Buchpublikation oder die Veröffentlichung einer Dissertation - die Möglichkeiten im Open Access zu publizieren sind so breit aufgestellt wie die Politikwissenschaft selbst. Der Workshop soll darüber informieren, welche Möglichkeiten es gibt, die eigenen Publikationen in den Open Access zu überführen bzw. diese barriere-, kostenfrei und rechtssicher online zur Verfügung zu stellen. Was bedeutet es, ob als Professor*in oder Nachwuchswissenschaftler*in, im Open Access zu publizieren? Welche Beispiele und Angebote bieten Orientierungspunkte? Welche Bedarfe, Vorbehalte und Wünsche der Unterstützung gibt es? Gemeinsam blicken wir auf die Wege des Publizierens, die Chancen, aber auch die Herausforderungen des Publikationsprozesses. In zwei thematischen Blöcken möchten wir eine Möglichkeit zum Austausch für Wissenschaftler*innen und wissenschaftlich Publizierende in der Politikwissenschaft bieten. Jun.-Prof. Arndt Leininger , Ph.D. (Politikwissenschaftliche Forschungsmethoden, TU Chemnitz) und Dr. Philipp Schulz (Institut für Interkulturelle und Internationale Studien der Universität Bremen) gewähren Einblicke in Ihre Erfahrungen mit dem Thema Open Access. Praktische Umsetzbarkeit und Unterstützungsangebote werden vorgestellt sowie die Gelegenheit zum Netzwerkaufbau geboten. Um Anmeldung über unten stehendes Anmeldeformular wird gebeten. Zielgruppe Der Workshop richtet sich an Wissenschaftler*innen und Publizierende der Politikwissenschaft. Vorerfahrungen im Bereich Open Access sind nicht erforderlich. Agenda 9:45-10:00 Ankommen 10:00-10:20 Begrüßung & Warm-Up 10:20-10:30 Einführende Impulse 10:30-11:10 Open Access - Erfahrungsberichte (Jun.-Prof. Arndt Leininger, Ph.D., TU Chemnitz & Dr. Philipp Schulz, Uni Bremen) 11:10-11:40 Peer-to-Peer-Austausch 11:40-12:00 Alles was Recht ist (Dipl.-Wirt.Jur. Thomas Hartmann, LL.M., FIZ Karlsruhe) 12:00-12:10 Bewegte Pause mit Noemi 12:10-13:00 Pause 13:00-13:45 Open-Access-Publizieren - Wo & Wie? (Dr. Agathe Gebert, SSOAR & Stefanie Hanneken, transcript Open Library PoWi & Dr. Kurt Salentin, IJCV) 13:45-14:15 Ask the expert - Publikationswege 14:15-14:30 Wrap-Up & Feedback Veranstaltungsort Die Veranstaltung wird online in Zoom (bereitgestellt durch die Universität Bremen) stattfinden. Die Zugangsdaten erhalten Sie kurz vor der Veranstaltung via Email. Mit Ihrer Anmeldung stimmen Sie den Nutzungsbestimmungen von Zoom zu. Anmeldung geschlossen. Beiträge Impulse open-access.network & Einführung in Open Access (Linda Martin, open-access.network) Fachinformationsdienst Politikwissenschaft - Pollux (Regina Pfeifenberger, Pollux) Alles was (Urheber-)Recht ist (Dipl.-Wirt.Jur. Thomas Hartmann, LL.M., FIZ Karlsruhe) Publizieren Publizieren mit SSOAR (Dr. Agathe Gebert, SSOAR) Publizieren in der transcript Open Library Politik (Stefanie Hanneken, transcript) International Journal of Conflict & Violence (Dr. Kurt Salentin, Universität Bielefeld) Organisation Fachinformationsdienst Politikwissenschaft - Pollux Projekt open-access.network Open-Access-Büro Berlin...

  5. Online-Workshop: Wir wollen mehr Open Access wagen! Wege, Modelle und Services für die Politikwissenschaft

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  6. Open Access Classical Studies
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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: Pros and Cons Find an introduction here. Open Access in Classical Studies Classical studies – or classics – is an umbrella term for all disciplines that study the cultures of classical antiquity and the early history of the Near East and Eu­rope, with a particular focus on linguistic and material heritage. Because of the heterogeneity of these disciplines, it is difficult to make generalisations about the development of open access in classical studies. Nonetheless, a move towards open access publishing has taken place in the various sub-disciplines of classical studies in recent years. For example, Heidelberg University Library and Propylaeum – the Specialized Information Service Ancient Studies, together with representatives of the offices for the protection of monuments ( Landesdenkmal­ämter ) of the German federal states and the professional associations in the field of classical studies in Germany, have developed strategies for digital publishing in archaeology (see Mainzer Thesen zum Open Access Publizieren in der Archäologie ). And in Egyptology, ancient history, and classical philology, a number of important journals and book series are now published open access. Of note here, for example, is the project Digital Classics Online , which was started by scholars of ancient history at the University of Leipzig. Its outputs also include the creation of the series Digital Classics Books . Open Access Journals As of March 2024, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) listed 226 open access journals under the search terms archaeology, ancient history, Greek language and literature, Latin language and literature, and history of the Greco-Roman world . In addition to these newly founded journals, existing journals are being retrodigitised and made available in open access. New editions of these journals either appear simultaneously in print and online, or the digital version is made freely available online upon expiry of an embargo period (moving wall). Important open access journals include: Aegyptiaca. Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt CIPEG Journal: Ancient Egyptian & Sudanese Collections and Museums Archäologische Informationen Archaeology International DOAJ Axon. Greek historical inscriptions DOAJ Ciceroniana DOAJ Digital Classics Online DOAJ Forum Classicum Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde Fundberichte Hessen Digital Gallia DOAJ Göttinger Forum für Altertumswissenschaft Journal of Greek Linguistics DOAJ Journal of Neolithic Archaeology DOAJ Pylon. Editions and Studies of Ancient Texts Tyche – Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte, Papyrologie und Epigraphik In collaboration with Propylaeum – the Specialized Information Service Ancient Studies, the University of Heidelberg provides a technical infrastructure for the publi­cation of open access journals . The service is addressed to classicists world­wide. As of March 2024, 48 open access journals were being made available via Propylaeum. In addition, via its platform iDAI.publications , the German Archaeological Insti­tute (DAI) provides open access to digitally available journals (and monographs) of its own institute, for example Archäologischer Anzeiger , Chiron and e-Forschungsberichte . The Ancient World Online ( AWOL ) from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University provides a List of Open Access Journals in Ancient Studies (last updated on February 2026). 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 ) Open Access Publishing and Self-Archiving Find an introduction here. What are Open Access Books? Find an introduction here. open-access.network (2026) ( CC BY 4.0 International ) Open Access Books As of March 2024, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) listed 2274 titles from the area of classical studies under subjects such as archaeology, ancient history to c 500 CE, classical history/classical civilisation , etc. The OAPEN Library listed over 2024 titles from the field of classical studies (as of March 2024). The open access publication platform Propylaeum eBOOKs , which is provided by Heidelberg University Library, makes scholarly monographs from the fields of Egyptology, ancient history, Byzantine studies, classical archaeology, classical philology, medieval and neo-Latin philology, and pre- and early history available in open access. The works are either first-time publications ( gold open access ) or self-archived digital versions of monographs published elsewhere ( green open access ). The service, which is free of charge, is addressed to classical studies scholars worldwide. Also worthy of note is the series Berlin Studies of the Ancient World published by Edition Topoi . The Ancient World Online ( AWOL ) from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University provides an Alphabetical List of Open Access Monograph Series in Ancient Studies (last updated on February 2026). Disciplinary Repositories Propylaeum-DOK is the disciplinary repository of Propylaeum – the Specialized Information Service (FID) Ancient Studies. Scholars of classical studies can publish discipline-specific digital works (monographs, articles, conference papers, etc.) at no cost to readers and free of access restrictions. The self-archiving of digital versions of works already published in print form elsewhere is also possible and desired. As of February 2023, Propylaeum-DOK contained over 5,550 open access publications. An overview of relevant repositories is provided by the Open Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) . 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 Subject portals and platforms Propylaeum – Specialized Information Service Ancient Studies : an information and service portal for classical studies operated by Heidelberg University Library and the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library, BSB) Databases and the like PropylaeumSEARCH : Propylaeum’s central search portal, via which subject bibliographies, specific subject sections of relevant library catalogues, and full-text data sources can be simultaneously searched iDAI.objects arachne : the central object database of the German Archaeo­logical Institute (DAI) and the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne; it is also part of the portal iDAI.world . Image Databases Beazley Archive Pottery Database : Operated by the Classical Art Research Centre (CARC) at the University of Oxford, this is the world’s largest photo­graphic archive devoted to ancient Greek pottery. Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum : a database operated by the Classical Art Research Centre (CARC) on behalf of the Union Académique Internationale (UAI), via which over 400 digitized catalogues of ancient pottery from 24 countries can be made freely available. Virtual Catalogue of Roman Coins (VCRC) : contains images and descrip­tions of coins from the Early Republic up to the end of the 4th century A.D. Open Science in Classical Studies Edition Topoi, Collections : an information infrastructure for the peer-reviewed publication of open access research data, such as 3D models, high resolution images, data, and databases Research data at Propylaeum : Besides the possibility of self-archiving data in institutional research data repositories, the research data associated with open access works published or hosted by Propylaeum can be preserved in the long-term via Propylaeum. Research data at IANUS : German research data centre for digital data from archaeology and classical studies Open Access Ancient Language Textbooks, OERs, and Primers from The Ancient World Online ( AWOL ) open-access.network ( CC BY 4.0 International ) Literatur Further Reading Mainzer Thesen zum Open Access Publizieren in der Archäologie (ein Entwurf) . (2018). Propylaeum.de. https://www.propylaeum.de/fileadmin/media/publizieren/Mainzer_Thesen_draft_2018_04_11-2.pdf Content editor of this page: Dr Katrin Bemmann, Heidelberg University Library (Last updated: February 2023)....

  7. Open Access in African Studies
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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: Pros and Cons Find an introduction here. Open Access Publishing and Self-Archiving Find an introduction here. 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 African Studies The field of African studies encompasses interdisciplinarily oriented area studies on Africa in the humanities, the social sciences, and cultural studies. Depending on the discipline, ( ethnology , political science , linguistics ) developments in the area of open access correspond to those in the respective disciplinary cultures: whereas open access often plays only a minor role in many humanities disciplines, developments in linguistics are certainly more dynamic. For a long time, printed monographs and edited volumes were the primary form of publication in African studies. However, in recent years, the importance of (online) journals has increased greatly. For Africanists, the prestige of a journal is still often the decisive selection criterion. This holds true both for disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals. The Journal Impact Factor is also gaining importance, although it is demonstrably unsuitable for the evaluation of Africa-related publications (see African Studies Library, 2022 ). [1] The spread of forms of open access publishing is of particular importance for African studies, as print publications by African publishers are often difficult to access because of inadequate distribution opportunities. Moreover, publications from the Global North are often difficult to access on the African continent because of the publishers’ high prices and distribution channels. Besides the use of green open access , the expansion of diamond open access offerings is of particular importance in this context, especially because of the obstacles that open access publication fees represent for authors from the Global South. Despite these circumstances, open access is still somewhat underrepresented in African studies compared with other disciplines, although there are now several important initiatives for the promotion of open access in African studies, for example the African Principles for Open Access in Scholarly Communication in and about Africa . The repository AfricArXiv is an important initiative (see the Disciplinary Repositories section on this page). Best-practice examples of open access were presented in 2017 at a workshop organised by the Specialised Information Service (FID) African Studies (VAD e. V., 2017) and in 2022 in collaboration with open-access.network . Furthermore, in the African Studies Toolbox , the FID African Studies regularly presents relevant information on open access , for example a series on the Zweitveröffentlichungsrecht ( secondary publication right ) under German Copyright Law, as well as information on open access initiatives of publishers with series on Africa-related research. The latter initiatives are described in more detail in the Open Access Books section on this page. Open Access Journals As African studies is an interdisciplinary field, there is no specific keyword for searching in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). With 141 titles as of March 2024, journals from South Africa are particularly well represented, while 27 indexed journals could be found under the keyword African Studies . Important open access journals in the field of African studies include: Africa Spectrum DOAJ Afriques : Débats, Méthodes et Terrains d'Histoire DOAJ Nordic Journal of African Studies DOAJ Journal of African Languages and Literatures DOAJ The African Journal of Information and Communication DOAJ The open access journals of the Dakar-based Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) – for example Africa Development , African Sociological Review , African Journal of International Affairs , and Afrika Zamani – are among the pioneers of open access in African studies. They are available together with all back issues on the CODESRIA website. The journal Africa Spectrum has been published by the GIGA Institute for African Affairs (IAA) since 1966. Through financial support from the Federal Foreign Office , the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and the city of Hamburg , it is available in open access at Sage Publishing. Since 2003, the journal has collaborated closely with the Association for Africa Studies in Germany (VAD) . Members of VAD support this collaboration as editors, as members of the editorial board, as authors, and in the peer-review procedure . Furthermore, a subscription to the print edition is included in VAD membership ( dual publishing ). African Journals Online (AJOL) is a South African online service that provides access to research published in Africa. As of March 2024, it listed 485 open access journals. Sabinet , which is also based in South Africa, provides access to the full texts of journals from and about Africa; as of March 2024, it listed 130 open access journals. Global Africa is a pan-African, international journal dedicated to the dissemination of and the quest for excellence in humanities and social science research on the African continent and in the African diaspora. In accordance with the diamond open access model, authors or their institutions do not have to pay article processing charges (APCs) , and the full-text versions of Global Africa articles are freely available to readers online as soon as they are published on the Global Africa website . 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 March 2024, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) listed 42 titles under the keyword Africa and 218 titles under African History . In addition, there are open access books in African linguistics, for example those published by Language Science Press . As of March 2024, OAPEN listed 25 titles under Africa and 116 titles under African History . On the Open Book Publishers website, search results under the keyword Africa include titles from various disciplines. In addition, there is a series of open access books in the African Studies Collection of the publisher Routledge that were unlocked in collaboration with Knowledge Unlatched . The Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies (AEGIS) publishes a book series with the publisher Brill . Books in the AEGIS series are available in open access, albeit after an embargo period of two years. In addition to the titles published with Brill, CODESRIA lists a large number of open access book titles on its website . African Minds is a not-for-profit open access publisher of scholarly books based in Cape Town, South Africa; it publishes predominantly in the social sciences and humanities. Disciplinary Repositories The most important repository of African studies is AfricArXiv , a freely accessible digital archive for African and Africa-related research hosted by the Open Science Framework (OSF) . It offers a platform for working papers, preprints , and accepted manuscripts ( post-prints ). There are also options for linking research data and code and for article versioning. AfricArXiv is multidisciplinary, but because of its focus on research from Africa, it is a valuable resource for African Studies. The International African Institute (IAI) in London has produced an interactive map of digital repositories in Africa in collaboration with AfricArXiv. This interactive map identifies and lists institutional repositories in Africa. It builds on earlier work by the IAI that focused on identifying repositories at African university libraries, and it also includes other institutions and their document servers, for example national and international repositories. Furthermore, it maps the interactions between the research repositories. An overview of repositories on the African content is also provided by the Open Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) in its country overview. What are Repositories? Find an introduction here. Legal Aspects Find an introduction here. 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 The Specialised Information Service (FID) Africa Studies at the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg in Frankfurt am Main offers the African studies community an OJS hosting service that provides support in establishing an open access journal . This service includes both the technical provision, maintenance, and regular updating of OJS on a permanently available server as well as advice on and practical support for the conceptual design and the creation of the journal(s). References African Studies Library. (2022). The Journal Impact Factor in African Studies . https://africanstudieslibrary.org/en/toolbox/the-journal-impact-factor-in-african-studies/ VAD e. V. Vereinigung für Afrikastudien in Deutschland (2017). Open Access Workshop des FID Afrikastudien . https://www.vad-ev.de/oa-workshop/ Further Reading Bezuidenhout, L., Havemann, J., Kitchen, S., De Mutiis, A., & Owango, J. (2020). African digital research repositories: Mapping the landscape [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3732172 Bezuidenhout, L., Havemann, J., Kitchen, S., De Mutiis, A., & Owango, J. (2020). African digital research repositories: Mapping the landscape [preprint]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3732274 Content editor of this page: Dr Anne Schumann-Douosson, Specialised Information Service (FID) African Studies (Last updated: July 2024)....

  8. Open Access in Art History
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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: Pros and Cons Find an introduction here. Open Access Publishing and Self-Archiving Find an introduction here. Open Access in Art History Works in art history are increasingly being published in digital formats, and open access plays an important role in this regard. For example, Heidelberg University Library , together with its Specialised Information Service Art, Design, Photography, arthistoricum.net , have jointly developed strategies for digital publishing in the arts with representatives of the professional associations in the field of art history. Particularly in Die Zukunft des kunsthistorischen Publizierens [The Future of Art Historical Publishing]), an e-book edited by Maria Effinger and Hubertus Kohle (2021), the possibilities of digital publishing are set out in numerous contributions from an art history perspective. These thoughts were further developed by Maria Effinger (2023) in an article entitled “ Kunstgeschichte kommunizieren? Aufgaben, Herausforderungen und Weiterentwicklungspotenziale beim elektronischen Publizieren im Open Access ” [Tasks, Challenges, and Potential for Further Development When Publishing Electronically in Open Access]. A further fundamental work entitled Digitales Publizieren in den Geisteswissenschaften: Begriffe, Standards, Empfehlungen [Digital Publishing in the Humanities: Concepts, Standards, Recommendations] (AG Digitales Publizieren , 2021) was published by the Digital Publishing Working Group of the association Digital Humanities in the German-Speaking Area (DHd) . Veronika Fischer and Grischka Petri’s (2022) guide Bildrechte in der kunsthistorischen Praxis [Image Rights in Art Historical Practice] provides answers to questions about image rights. Open Access Journals As of September 2025, the Directory of Open Access Journals ( DOAJ ) listed 87 entries under the search term History of the arts and 686 entries under Fine arts . Besides newly established open access journals, retrodigitized journal volumes are also available in open access. New issues of these journals either appear simultaneously in print and in digital format, or the digital version is made available in open access after an embargo period (delayed open access). Important open access journals published in the German-speaking area include: 21: Inquiries into Art, History, and the Visual – Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte und visuellen Kultur DOAJ ABE-Journal: Architecture Beyond Europe DOAJ Belvedere Research Journal ; International Journal for Digital Art History Journal for Art Market Studies DOAJ kritische berichte. Zeitschrift für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaft Kunstchronik. Monatsschrift für Kunstwissenschaft Kunstgeschichte. Open Peer Reviewed Journal kunsttexte.de – Journal für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte Pegasus. Beiträge zum Nachleben antiker Kunst und Architektur RIHA Journal DOAJ Sediment – Materialien und Forschungen zur Geschichte des Kunstmarkts transfer – Zeitschrift für Provenienzforschung und Sammlungsgeschichte | Journal for Provenance Research and the History of Collection Within the framework of the Specialised Information Service Art, Design, Photography, arthistoricum.net , for which it is co-responsible, Heidelberg University Library provides a technical infrastructure for publishing open access journals . The offering is addressed to art historians worldwide. The publication platform uses the open source software Open Journal Systems (OJS), which is provided by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) . As of September 2025, 52 open access journals were being published via arthistoricum.net. 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 September 2025, the Directory of Open Access Books ( DOAB ) listed 581 titles under the keyword History of art and 36 titles under History of art/art & design styles , while the OAPEN Library ( OAPEN ) listed 27 titles under History of art/art & design styles . Many international museums and research institutions, for example the Getty Research Institute’s Getty Publications Virtual Library , the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s MetPublications , and the Canadian Online Art Book Project , now offer cost-free access to a selection of their books. The open access publication platform arthistoricum.net ART-Books , which is provided by Heidelberg University Library , publishes open access scholarly e-books from the fields of art history, photography, and design ( gold open access ) and also makes digital versions of print books from these fields available to the public ( green open access ). The cost-free offering is addressed to art historians worldwide. The platform uses the open source software Open Monograph Press (OMP) , which is provided by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) . Disciplinary Repositories ART-Dok , the publication platform of arthistoricum.net, offers scholars from all over the world an opportunity to make their digital art history publications (monographs, articles, lectures, etc.) available in open access. The self-archiving of digital versions of works published in print format elsewhere is also possible and desired. As of September 2025, ART-Dok contained over 9,500 open access publications. Overviews of relevant repositories are also provided by the Open Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) and by re3data under the search terms Art History and Data Access (as of September 2025). 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 Subject Portals and Platforms The information and service portal for art history arthistoricum.net is operated by the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) and Heidelberg University Library. The Digital Art History Research Group , a platform for digital art history, promotes networking among scholars in the field of art history who develop, use, and theoretically reflect on digital tools and methods. The Deutsche Verband für Kunstgeschichte e. V . (German Association for Art History) represents the interest of art historians working in Germany and at German institutions abroad. The online archives JSTOR and Project MUSE now make available open access content of relevance to art historians. Databases and the Like The Art Discovery Group Catalogue is an international database with holdings from art and museum libraries in the USA and Europe. Via arthistoricum.net ’s catalogue, users can search for literature of relevance to art history. Searches in the full texts of collections and in image sources and disciplinary repositories are also possible. The Getty Research Portal is a subject portal of the Getty Research Institute. The portal offers worldwide open access to digitized art history literature. The Database Information System (DBIS) provides an overview of databases in the areas of art history and architecture . Image Databases The Bildarchiv Foto Marburg at Philipps-Universität Marburg is the German Documentation Centre for Art History. With around 2.6 million images, it is one of the largest digital image archives for European art and architecture. With around 7 million digitized images, the Deutsche Fotothek is a universal archive of art and cultural history. It is located at the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) . heidICON is Heidelberg University Library’s object and multimedia database. prometheus is a distributed digital image archive for research and teaching located at the Department of Art History at the University of Cologne . With almost 4 million high-quality digitized images from the fields of art and archaeology, the web-based collection currently connects 128 databases from institutes, research facilities, and museums on a common user interface. Open Science in Art History Although open access has received strong support in the field of art history in recent times, legal, technical, and organizational issues relating to the publication and archiving of art history research data still put obstacles in the way of many scholars who want to publish their data open access. To remedy this, the consortium NFDI4Culture , which was established in October 2020, has set itself the goal of creating an infrastructure for research data on tangible and intangible cultural assets and, when doing so, to engage with the needs of the communities. The NFDI4Culture Helpdesk advises art historians on various aspects of handling research data. Questions can be asked about legal aspects, publishing and archiving data, digitization in general, open access standards, and support for the planning of funding proposals. Moreover, with its FAIR Clearing Unit, NFDI4Culture has created an advisory service that promotes the application of quality standards such as the FAIR Principles. The Munich Memorandum 2024 – Research Data in Art History: 10 Theses (Deutscher Verband für Kunstgeschichte e. V. et al., 2024) formulates from the perspective of art history in Germany current requirements, positions, and impulses for the further development of digital art history research data and their infrastructure. In addition to the possibility of archiving research data in institutional research data repositories, research data relating to open access publications on arthistoricum.net can also be published online and archived with arthistoricum.net@heiDATA . DARIAH-EU is a European network that not only supports and improves digital research and teaching in the arts and humanities but also promotes the transition to open science in these fields. open-access.network ( CC BY 4.0 International ) Praxistipp Wie und unter welchen Bedingungen audiovisuelle Materialien als Open Educational Resources in Forschung und Lehre genutzt werden dürfen, erläutert das Rechtsgutachten von Klimpel & Rack (2023) . References AG Digitales Publizieren (2021). Digitales Publizieren in den Geisteswissenschaften: Begriffe, Standards, Empfehlungen. https://doi.org/10.17175/wp_2021_001_v2 Effinger, M., & Kohle, H. (Eds.) (2021). Die Zukunft des kunsthistorischen Publizierens. arthistoricum.net. https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.663 Effinger, M. (2023). Kunstgeschichte kommunizieren? Aufgaben, Herausforderungen und Weiterentwicklungspotenziale beim elektronischen Publizieren im Open Access. kritische berichte51(1). https://doi.org/10.11588/kb.2023.1.92820 Fischer, V., & Petri, G. (2022). Bildrechte in der kunsthistorischen Praxis. Ein Leitfaden (2nd ed.). Verband Deutscher Kunsthistoriker e.V. http://doi.org/ 10.11588/artdok.00007769 Deutscher Verband für Kunstgeschichte e. V., Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (2024). Forschungsdaten in der Kunstgeschichte: 10 Thesen - Münchner Memorandum 2024. https://doi.org/10.11588/artdok.00009194 Content editor of this page: Alexandra Büttner. Last revision of content: Maria Effinger, Heidelberg University Library (as of October 2025)....

  9. Open Access in Arts
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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: Pros and Cons Find an introduction here. 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 the Arts In recent years, the arts disciplines have also increasingly taken a position on open access . Because they are situated between the arts and the sciences, they always play a special role in this regard. The arts are characterised not only by a diversity of disciplines that work both artistically and academically, but also by an extremely diverse publishing landscape with actors from the areas of science, culture, education, and (creative) industry. The diversity of the arts disciplines is also reflected in the broad range of publications, which may be text-based or non-text-based. Whether they be artist books, exhibition catalogues, photos, music/performance productions, or 3D-objects, these publications usually require consideration of numerous legal issues and are often a challenge for publishing platforms. The currently existing infrastructures for open access publications are geared mostly towards text-based publications and are not adequate for the needs in the arts. The infrastructures in the area of research data , some of which already exist or are currently being developed, are important points of reference and are groundbreaking for open access infrastructures (not only) in the arts. In addition, because of the close links with the creative industries, develop­ments in the arts impact a new area for the open access community – namely, the economic livelihood of artists. Artists work both for cultural and educational institutions and in the culture industry; they are dependent on marketing their content; and their publications are financed only partly via royalties. Moreover, they are often members of collecting societies, and are limited in their freedom to freely license their works. An open access strategy in the arts must therefore include the safeguarding of artists’ incomes. The arts disciplines already clearly show that open access must always be seen in the context of all building blocks of open science and of all actors. Open Access Journals As of March 2024, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) listed 627 entries under the keyword fine arts and 89 entries under music and books on music . The listed open access journals cater often for the arts-related scholarly disciplines but only rarely for the arts or artistic practice. In addition, journals are not the dominant form of publication in the arts disciplines. What are Open Access Journals? Find an introduction here. 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 March 2024, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) listed 169 titles under the keyword fine arts , while the OAPEN Library listed around 450 titles under art . However, the search results are mainly publications from the areas of art/art history or even ethnology rather than from the visual or applied arts. In the last few years, the first open library consortia have been establishing themselves, for example the Open Library Medienwissenschaft since 2021 and KOALA Media Studies since 2023. Disciplinary Repositories The most important disciplinary repositories in the arts include: ART-Dok , the full-text server of the Specialised Information Service for Art, Photography and Design musiconn , the portal of the Specialised Information Service for Musicology media/rep/ , an open access repository for media studies publications The above-mentioned repositories are geared towards text-based publications. The increasing importance of open access in the arts is also changing the discip­linary repositories: needs are being identified and new projects that deal with the building of repositories for non-text-based and multimedia media are arising. An overview of relevant repositories is provided by the Open Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) . 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) Fokusgruppe "OA-Künste" Die digitale Fokusgruppe OA-Künste ist ein Netzwerk mit Mailingliste, das für alle künstlerischen Einrichtungen und Hochschulen offensteht. 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 Offerings The network Open Access in den Künsten [Open Access in the Arts] offers all artistic institutions and higher education institutions a forum for exchange and discussion. The aim of the network is to share materials and information and to anchor the open access idea in the arts. The focus of the network is on libraries, which, as service facilities, promote and contribute to shaping the establishing of open access structures at various levels. Open access is also gaining in importance in art and museum libraries ( Hahn, 2018 ). Besides making text-oriented electronic resources available, these libra­ries have long been administering analogous special collections, such as image archives, graphical collections, or artist books. Here, open access can be a step towards digital transformation and the expansion of the collection profile and the information offering. Via synergy effects, this can also advance open access in the arts. For several years now, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunst- und Mu­seumsbibliotheken (Working Group of the Art and Museum Libraries, AKMB) has offered further training in the area of open access. Open Science in the Arts Open science is also a key topic in the arts. The process of creating art, and also the works themselves, often move between several components of open science. In view of the diversity of the content and formats in the arts, it is therefore very expedient to focus not only on open access but also on open science as a whole, including, for example, open research data. Besides the open access infrastructures, the offerings of cultural institutions and research data infrastructures also offer points of reference. The expertise that exists in NFDI4Culture and other representatives of the GLAM sector (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) is a valuable support for the arts in establishing publication infrastructures. NFDI4Culture is a consortium within the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) that represents the art history, musicology, theatre, dance, architecture, film, and media studies communities. The aim of the consortium is to establish a range of offerings such as advisory and training services, guidelines, and forums for discipline-specific exchange. Moreover, NFDI4Culture engages with the legal complexities of dealing with cultural heritage, for example with questions of provenance or copyright. open-access.network ( CC BY 4.0 International ) References Hahn, C. (2018). Open Access im Museum . Herbstfortbildung AKMB Dresden. https://www.initiativefortbildung.de/pdf/schlaglichter_AKMB2018/Hahn_OA_Museum.pdf Further reading Somajni, Chiara; Tóth-Czifra, Erzsébet; Barbieri, Chiara; Marazza, Suzanna and Pensa, Iolanda (2024). Open Science for Arts, Design andMusic: Guidelines for Researchers, Librarians and Practitioners in the Humanities . SUPSI, CC0 1.0 except where otherwise stated. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.13896781 Content editors of this page: Anika Wilde, Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch , and Friederike Kramer, Library of the Berlin University of the Arts, UdK (Last updated: July 2024)....

  10. Open Access in Biology
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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 Biology The publishing landscape in biology is being shaped by a large and steadily growing number of open access journals. Initiatives such as Plan S in Europe and Plan U in the United States ( Sever et al., 2019 ), as well as the nationwide licence agreements negotiated by Projekt Deal (now the DEAL Consortium) in Germany, are also bringing about structural change towards open access as the standard publishing model in biology. The next step to be taken is the transition to diamond open access models. Preprint servers such as bioRxiv are now widely used, as they enable the rapid communication of research results before peer-review processes are completed. Besides scholarly articles and the underlying research data, software developments and AI models are important outcomes of the scientific process. Open access to these outcomes is ensured through a large number of international repositories and databases. Open Access Journals As of December 2025, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) listed 897 journals under “Biology” and “Microbiology”, the most important of which include: eLife PLOS Biology PLOS ONE Scientific Reports Open Biology BMC Biology One of the driving forces of the open access movement in biology is the publisher Public Library of Science (PLOS) . With the establishment of the journal PLOS Biology in 2003, it laid a foundation stone for the dissemination of the open access idea in the life sciences . Besides PLOS Biology, PLOS publishes further journals, including PLOS ONE , which is considered the archetype of a megajournal – a model that has since been adopted by many other publishers (e.g., Springer Nature with Scientific Reports ). One important characteristic of these megajournals is that submitted manuscripts are assessed solely on the basis of their scientific validity. Rejections due to lack of relevance – as is often the case with many other journals – do not happen at megajournals. Thus, based on the number of articles published per annum, PLOS ONE is one of the largest scholarly journals in the world. Another publisher that plays a pioneering role in the area of open access is BioMed Central , which is now part of Springer Nature. It has a large portfolio of journals and is a co-founder of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) . The open access publisher Frontiers also plays a formative role. It publishes numerous life sciences journals, is a member of OASPA, and has distinguished itself through its community model of peer review The open access journal Open Biology was founded by the Royal Society in 2011. And in 2012, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust founded the journal eLife with the declared aim of providing a high quality alternative to Nature, Science, and Cell. Open Research Europe is a diamond open access publishing venue that was initiated by the European Commission. It enables researchers to rapidly publish articles, data, and methods stemming from EU-funded projects. The platform combines preprint publication with downstream, transparent peer review. Especially in the life sciences, it is used to make results from Horizon Europe-funded projects rapidly accessible, to implement data practices that comply with the FAIR Data Principles , and to ensure a high level of visibility. It thus offers an important alternative to traditional publishing models and promotes a culture of open science in Europe. 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 December 2025, the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) listed 1,550 titles in the category “ Biology, life sciences ”, while OAPEN listed over 125 titles under “ Biology, life science ”. Although open access books have not played a prominent role in biology to date, there are numerous open access (text)books of outstanding quality. They include, for example, Microbiology , which is jointly published by OpenStax and the American Society for Microbiology Press. Disciplinary Repositories The most important repositories in biology include: bioRxiv : This preprint server specifically for the life sciences has been provided by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory since 2013. Use of the server intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in many life sciences disciplines, self-archiving preprints there is now the norm. arXiv : Operated by Cornell University Library, this preprint and post-print server has for some years now had a Quantitative Biology section with 11 categories. Preprints : This multidisciplinary platform also has a biology section. PaleorXiv : This subdiscipline-specific preprint server hosts and provides access to preprints from palaeontology. PUBLISSO-Fachrepositorium Lebenswissenschaften (FRL) : Hosted by ZB MED, this repository offers authors the possibility of self-archiving their texts and research data. PubMed Central and Europe PubMed Central : These platforms are the largest venues in the world for post-print versions of publications. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires that author accepted manuscripts (i.e. post-prints) of articles arising from NIH-funded projects be made publicly available on PubMed Central immediately after publication in a journal. These manuscripts do not necessarily have to be made available under an open licence, nor must they be part of the BMC Open Access Subset , which can be separately downloaded and searched . Preprints are now an integral part of publishing practice in biology. Initiatives such as Plan U ( Sever et al., 2019 ) and ASAPbio (Accelerating Science and Publication in biology) advocate that preprints of all scholarly articles should be made freely available. The Open Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) also provides an overview of relevant 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 ) open-access.network ( CC BY 4.0 International ) Open Access in Medicine and Life Sciences Find an introduction here. Open Science in Biology In the biosciences, there are many projects – also in collaboration with other disciplines – that develop as grassroots movements and address various aspects of the scientific process in the spirit of open science. They aim, for example, to increase the public online availability of research data (open data), software source code (open source), lab journals (open notebook science), manuscript peer reviews (open peer review), teaching materials ( open educational resources ), the quantification of the impact of publications ( open metrics ), and research funding proposals, including their reviews (Mietchen, 2014). However, open science also means opening up science to society (citizen science, e.g. the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) project Finde den Wiesenknopf [Find the Great Burnet]). Some journals also see a need to increase the transparency of research. For example, since 2014, PLOS ONE has required that all data underpinning research must be made available together with the publication. PLOS Biology and PLOS Genetics support th e Research Resource Identification Initiative , which helps researchers to assign unique identifiers to their research materials and methods. In biology, too, numerous communities have adopted the FAIR Data Principles , in order to ensure more efficient and sustainable use of data and software. For many years now, there have been repositories and databases for some data in biology. For example, via websites and application programming interfaces (APIs), the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) , in particular, offer structured access to various data collections, such as sequences and structures of biomolecules like DNA, RNA, and proteins. As of December 2025, the Registry of Research Data Repositories, re3data , listed almost 1100 peer-reviewed data repositories in the area of biology. Despite all these initiatives and offerings, it is clear that by no means all research communities in biology are being reached, and by no means all technical potential is being adequately used to ensure the effective sharing of knowledge. This discrepancy between theoretical possibilities and actual implementation can be explained, among other things, by the fact that the ways in which researchers and the outputs of their research are evaluated when jobs and funding are being allocated remain unchanged. The evaluation criteria are generally limited to formal publications in scholarly journals and the Journal Impact Factor . This practice impacts researchers’ motivation to make their results, data, and methods publicly available at an early stage, and thus prevents the broad and rapid reuse of these resources. A rethinking of the evaluation of research outputs is thus desirable. This is precisely the change to which the signatories of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) aspire. Specifically, they advocate that, besides making the necessary infrastructure available, incentives should be created for making the results of scholarly research available to the public as early as possible and free of technical, financial, and legal barriers. The National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) , which is currently under construction in Germany, is another important project in the area of open science in biology. Within the framework of this project, new technical and structural foundations are being created for research data management in the whole of Germany. In the first two selection rounds of the NFDI Programme, several consortia from the life sciences and biomedical research ( DataPlant , GHGA , NFDI4BioDiversity , NFDI4Health , NFDI4Immuno , NFDI4Microbiota ) received funding. By making infrastructure, know-how, and training available, and also by developing and establishing (metadata) standards, these consortia aim to promote open and efficient science as well as the implementation of the FAIR Data Principles and cultural change in that direction. 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 Mietchen, D. (2014). The Transformative Nature of Transparency in Research Funding. PLOS Biology, 1 2(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002027 Sever, R., Eisen, M., & Inglis, J. (2019). Plan U: Universal access to scientific and medical research via funder preprint mandates. PLOS Biology, 17 (6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000273 Further Reading Rapp Learn, J. (2019). What bioRxiv’s first 30,000 preprints reveal about biologists. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00199-6 Rat für Informationsinfrastrukturen (RFII). (2016). Leistung aus Vielfalt. Empfehlungen zu Strukturen, Prozessen und Finanzierung des Forschungsdatenmanagements in Deutschland. https://rfii.de/download/rfii-empfehlungen-2016/ Galtier, N., Belkhir, K., Antoine, P.-O., Bibal, C., Boëte, C., Delsuc, F., Huchard, E., Kéfi, S., Maeder, C., Paradis, L., Puechmaille, S. J., Queffelec, A., Scornavacca, C., Smadja, C. M. (2026). Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology , 39(2) . https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voaf143 Content editor of this page: Prof. Dr. Konrad Förstner, ZB MED – Information Centre for Life Sciences (Last updated: December 2025)....

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