Open Access | Introducing: DOI registration!

Open Access, as the name suggests, means free access to scientific information. This primarily includes publications in the form of scientific articles, but research data or even books can also be published as Open Access. The objects are accessible free of charge via the internet and can be read, downloaded, copied, distributed and printed without financial, legal or technical restrictions Copyright, however, remains at all times with the author. Publishing under a Creative Commons License, the author can also determine how their work may be used by third parties.

The THWS supports free access to scientific information and recommends that its members publish according to the principles of Open Access. This was laid down in the THWS Open Access Policy (in German).
THWS was also the first university of applied sciences in Bavaria to sign the Berlin Declaration.

On the one hand, there is the advantage of fast, simple and free availability for the subsequent users, but there are also advantages for the authors: Above all, there is the increased visibility and citation frequency. The logic behind this is simple – a publication is available to a larger circle of interested parties and is therefore better perceived.

A list of other advantages of Open Access can be found here.

Basically, there are two types, or rather colours, of Open Access: Gold Open Access and Green Open Access.

Gold Open Access refers to a publication in an Open Access journal, i.e. a journal that publishes its contents free of charge. In order for these journals to be able to guarantee a high standard of content (e.g. through a peer review process), in most cases a so-called publication fee must be paid when an article is published. Supposedly, these fees are to be paid by the authors, but the THWS library is here to help out financially through its publication fund.

In the case of Green Open Access, documents that have already been published might be published as a second or parallel publication in a repository – in the case of the THWS, this is the document server OPUS. It is important that the authors have the right to do this; "conventional" publishers often have exclusive usage contracts that exclude this option.

If you would like to publish Open Access, it is best to take advantage of our publication consultancy. We will find a way, gold or green! Just leave a message. But keep in mind: You must meet our funding conditions (see below).

In theory, yes, but you have to bear in mind that there are not only well-intentioned publishers in the world. On the one hand, there are publishers who publish hijacked journals - fake journals that imitate well-known journals in order to be read or to attract authors (a list can be found online). The even bigger problem, however, are predatory journals. They do not imitate other journals, but they are "fake" nonetheless: they demand publication fees, as usual, but do not use them for the journal, and rather keep the money for other purposes. They also like to offer scientists positions as editors or invite them to fake conferences. This is not only detrimental to science, but also to the sponsors and, last but not least, to the reputation of the scientists.

When in doubt, ask us!

The Open Access Policy of the THWS reads: The university management recommends that its members publish research results in accordance with the principles of Open Access.

All full-time professors and academic staff at THWS as corresponding authors are eligible for funding under the Publication Fund.

First publications in peer-reviewed open access journals ("Gold Open Access") or open access publications in journals within the DEAL agreements are eligible for funding. The maximum amount of funding is the amount of the required publication fees including tax.

Monographic publications published as open access by a scientific publisher are also eligible for funding. The maximum funding amount is € 2,500 including tax.

Financial co-funding is obligatory for projects with granted publication fees. Articles must be accompanied by the Funding Acknowledgement of the Publication Fund*. The library may refuse publication in justified cases.

In order to receive funding, you must contact the library before submitting the publication and wait for the funding acknowledgement; it is also advisable to take part in the publication advisory service. Approved funding is available for a maximum of six months from the announcement of the publication.

The publication fund is administered by the university library. Publications should be announced using the submission form on the library website.

* for German-language publications: „Gefördert durch den Publikationsfonds der Technischen Hochschule Würzburg-Schweinfurt“; for English-language publications: "Supported by the publication fund of the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt"

If you do not adhere to the funding conditions, e.g. by not announcing your publication in advance, you will not receive financial support from the Publication Fund. Any costs incurred must then be covered by you.

The reasons include:

  • there are no budget funds available
  • not publishing in any Gold Open Access or DEAL journal
  • the journal is of dubious quality
  • the announced publication deviates from the university's scope
  • ...

The library acts as THWS' central issuing office for DOIs.
DOIs can be requested by filling out this form. This also applies to publications that have not yet been published.
CAUTION: The publication must be (made) accessible via our OPUS server.

Using the Open Journal Systems (OJS) software, we offer the hosting of electronic Open Access journals for THWS members. We provide the technical infrastructure that takes you through the different steps of journal production, including the peer review process. It should only be mentioned that the library will not take on any of the content-related work here. A first example of a journal produced in cooperation with us is "Quarterly on Refugee Problems - AWR Bulletin".

 

Are you interested in the hosting service? Simply contact us!

We are very happy to answer them! Just send us a message: openaccess[at]thws.de.

Open Access Policy (in German)