Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 Gold Open Access Charges at the national and institutional level in Germany

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 German research organisations support both roads, green and gold Many open access journals dont operate on article processing charges Many institutes support open access journals by providing funds For establishing and running their technical infrastructure For employing editorial staff For enabling researchers to act as editors or reviewers Still, authors are often in need of funds to cover open access publication charges Examples for instruments to assist authors with these charges Planned survey for conclusive picture of already existing open access funds Outlook Scope of the presentation Supporting authors with open access funds

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 Adresses all corresponding authors with Max Planck affiliation PLoS checks affiliation with lists provided by Max Planck Society Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine Max Planck Institute for Brain Research Fritz Haber Institute Bibliotheca Hertziana PLoS sends invoice to Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL) MPDL verifies authors and covers publication charges Same central budget for subscription costs and article processing fees No fuss for any of the authors from about 80 Max Planck Institutes Easy for publisher to deal with one contact only Example 1: Central contract with a publishing house Max Planck Society deal with Public Library of Science easy / hard to identify as MPI

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 Example 2: Supporting authors directly Fraunhofers publication fonds Authors apply directly for OA funds Central unit within Fraunhofer checks if the journal is a true open access journal if quality control mechanisms are established (author needs to provide information e.g. on peer review) if the journal already exists for three years at least if the journal publishes articles on a regular basis Easy application with form sheet Enabled already support for OA books

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 Funding directed to the university and thus only indirectly to researchers University must use the funding to create or support structures which enable and help their researchers with open access publications Application has to demonstrate that university establishes mechanisms which make it very easy for the authors to profit from the funds Funds can only be used for articles in true open access journals with a severe quality control Universities have to bring 25% of the funds they applied for from their own accounts Aim and motivation: help create fixed budgets for open access publication, possibly arising from a correlation between open access and subscription budgets Example 3: Enabling universities to create open access fonds The DFGs funding instrument Open Access Publishing

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 Yet, overall current situation Various (funding) models exist, but they are not implemented broadly Funding decisions often adress single publications, but not a systematic support for the Golden Road to Open Access Budget planning might be harder for open access than for subscription journals Financing multi-author papers with researchers from different institutions might pose problems Researchers are often unaware of funding opportunities Lack of experiences and best practise exchange between organisations A systematic discussion is needed in order to Avoid inefficiencies Better support authors Approach: survey among organisations Towards a comprehensive picture of Gold OA monetary flows Plans for a survey by the German Alliance of Research Organisations

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 Aims Overview of currently applied funding models and their volume Identification of potential savings and synergies Collection of political arguments for shifting of subsidies Also: raising awareness for open access throughout organisations Issues covered Open access support within organisations, policies Decision process and criteria for reimbursement of golden open access fees Scale of expenses currently spent Identification of disciplinary differences Towards a comprehensive picture of Gold OA monetary flows Plans for a survey by the German Alliance or Research Organisations

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 We need clearly designated responsibilities within organisations in order to enable Transparent communication with authors, publishers, and among organisations (libraries, administration) Best practice exchange Synergies through better cooperation Savings by avoiding multiple payments Continuous monitoring of invested funds and cash flows Overall aim is to provide authors with an adaequate, low-threshold support service Results of survey will help us to get a comprehensive overview and allow well-founded, concerted further planning for Germany International cooperation is required – authors dont care much about national borders Lessons learned and outlook

Gold Open Access Charges in Germany, Anita Eppelin / Johannes Fournier Berlin 7 Conference, Paris 2009 Many thanks for your attention Further information on DFG: on all DFG-funded projects: on more than German research institutes: