Workshops on Sustainable Open Access: Strategies for scholar-led publishing

Scholar-led open access journals have been publishing high quality articles for years, thus enriching the scientific publication landscape. However, many of these journals face the challenge of establishing both a sustainable publication infrastructure, and a financing and governance model: technical solutions are rarely standardised; budgets and thus long-term planning is difficult; cooperative networks are lacking exchange and impact. At the same time, scholar-led OA-Gold journals often fall through the support system of libraries and consortia.

The project “Innovative Open Access in the field of Small Sciences” (funded by the German Research Foundation DFG; June 2019 – November 2020) provides practical, instructive answers to these challenges. Based on a systematic evaluation of existing financing models for open access publications and a Germany-wide survey on the situation of scholar-led OA journals, the project team has developed suggestions for a modular, demand-based financing model. In addition, it tested sustainable technical solutions and cross-disciplinary network and cooperation models. This best practice will be made available to the scientific community in two transfer workshops. The aim of these workshops is to connect and activate publishing institutions and journals in the spirit of sustainable open access.

The transfer workshop “Technical Innovation & Networking Models” (Sep. 29-30, online workshop organized by the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin) will focus on technical aspects of publication infrastructures with regard to open, cooperative and community-based solutions (integration of identification services such as ORCiD, media-neutral output formats, workflows for long-term archiving, accessible UX). Additionally, exchange and networking formats for scholar-led journals are presented in order to incentivize cooperation of the professional community, scholarly societies and infrastructure facilities.

The transfer workshop “Sustainable Financing without APCs” (Oct. 6-7, online workshop organized by the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Hamburg) will present a set of modular financing options. In individual workshop sessions participants can discuss possible applications and practical examples of these modules with regard to their respective journal context and developments in the field of open access funding and consortial support structures. 

Both workshops complement each other thematically and respond to the pressing challenges scholar-led, non-APC journals face these days. We primarily invite journal editors and members of publishing institutions and research infrastructures, yet anyone working with academic publications is welcome to participate. The workshops will be held in English.

Agenda

Technical Innovation & Networking Models
September 29-30, 2020 – Online Workshop, organized by the Alexander von Humboldt Institut for Internet and Society, Berlin

Sustainable Financing without APCs
October 6-7, 2020 – Online Workshop, organized by the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Hamburg

Registration

The workshops are free of charge, travel expenses cannot be covered. To ensure accessibility and participation for everyone, please note that the workshops take place online. Additional information can be found on the project homepage; for further questions please contact the HIIG Open Access Officer, Marcel Wrzesinski (marcel.wrzesinski@hiig.de).