1. Definition

2. Pro

3. Contra (?)

4. Ways of Open Access

5. Some Links

1. Open access (OA) means free and unrestricted online access to scientific and scholarly information

2. Pro:

• Fast and free Access for everybody
• Improved visibility and retrievability of scientific research results
• Increased citation frequency of the publication and, therefore increased reputation
• Safeguarding of authors‘ copyrights
• Promotion of international and interdisciplinary cooperation
• Control of plagiarism
• Definition of rights of reproduction by the author

3. Contra (?)

• Quality control?
  • "Fake Science": Predatory Open Access Journals try to mislead and cheat authors.
    What can you do to prevend accidently publishing in such a journal?
    •  Check the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)  - is your journal listed in there? Find out more about journals here: Quality Open Access Market (QOAM).
    • Does the journal have an ISSN?
    • Check the ranking factor?
    • Do you feel spammed by publishers offering to publish your article in their “free” journal? 
    • Check the article processing time. Is it extremely short? (That might be an indicator for fake peer-review).

Use these websites for help:
Think Check Submit
Directory of Open Access Journals
Predatory Journals

(If you have any questions contact us at: bibliotheksleitung(at)geomar.de)

• Juristical questions: (Questions concerning copyright…)
• Publication fees (Open Access publication charges can be quite expensive)

4. Ways through Open Access

• Gold Open Access
  • Publishing in an original Open Access Journal with peer review.
  • The rights of use remain entirely with the author.
  • The publication may be downloaded, copied and distributed
  • The author (or the Institution) will have to pay APCs (Article Processing Charges).
• Green Open Access
  • This is the second publishing of a licensed publication (at the same time or with an Embargo period) on a repository (for example OceanRep) after the first publication in Closed Access by a publisher.
    • Since 2014, a statutory secondary exploitation right applies to publications (§ 38(4) UrhG) which are published in the course of research which has at least half public funding. Accordingly, journal articles may be published in the manuscript version 12 months after the first publication.
•  „Hybrid Open Access“
  • This is the publishing of an article in a subscription journal with the choice of “open access” (or “open choice”) – with an additional fee for this option
  • There are double costs for this path. People have to pay for the subscription of the journal and authors (or their organizations) have to pay for the open access option
  • The fees for this open choice are usually higher than the fees for a pure Open Access Journal publication.

5. Some Links

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• Open Access Net (and Information for authors)
• Cost Effectiveness for Opean Access Journals
• Open Access Richtlinie der Helmholtz Gemeinschaft (Sorry, only in german)
• Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities
• Think Check Submit (how to avoid Predatory Journals)

More information can be found here:

https://www.geomar.de/en/centre/central-facilities/bibliothek/publications-at-geomar/fsr2