By Dr. Janna Neumann & Linda Martin
What can Open Access look like in practice and how can it be integrated into a chemist's research? This question was addressed by scientists, research officers and publishers at the online workshop organised by open-access.network and the German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB) on 16 March.
Many paths - one goal
Open Access has already been relevant in atmospheric science for more than 20 years, says Dr Robert Wegener from Forschungszentrum Jülich. The first journal foundations, such as the open access journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, enable transparent peer review and have a high journal impact factor. Facilitating the transfer of knowledge between society, science and industry as well as the possibility of re-using open data are central topics for atmospheric scientists.
Dr Juliane Simmchen gave an insight into the user perspective: "Publishing on preprint servers such as ChemRxiv is important for young scientists, as it enables quick feedback and exchange." The junior research group leader of a freelance fellowship at the Technical University of Dresden recommends answering two questions when choosing a preprint server: "Which servers are generally suitable for your own discipline?" and "Why does this preprint server suits best for your own paper?"
Open Access publishing - But where?
Professor Dr Wolfram Koch, Executive Director of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker*innen (GDCh), pointed out the importance that Open Access has within the society. "Chemistry open" - the project DEAL as well as the journal of the GDCh, "Angewandte Chemie" can be placed under this topic.
Dr Marc Kielmann (Beilstein Institute) then reported on the advantages of publishing in a diamond open access journal under the title "Why diamonds are a chemist's best friend". The non-profit institute offers the possibility of APC-free open access publication.
Free access to scientific information also means free re-use of research data. The NFDI4Chem advocates the support of various repositories and the possibility of simplifying the data flow through software and tools. Dr Nicole Jung showed how data provision in the Chemotion data repository could be realised and to what extent cooperation with publishers could be possible.
If researchers are faced with the questions of where to publish and what support is needed, it makes sense to ask the open access responsible or people from the library department. Michaela Voigt from the Technical University of Berlin highlighted individual services and central open access support criteria at her institution, which can also be found at many other academic libraries.
Wishes, challenges and opportunities
Together, the researchers identified needs, questions and challenges: The increase in transparency stands next to the desire for uncomplicated financing of one's own publication. Some statements concerned data and Open Access publications: A quality assurance process is needed. This should be designed from within the scientific community and prevent the image of uncontrolled mass publishing.