Open Access Policy

Preamble

^1TheGeorg-August-Universität Göttingen and the University Medical Center Göttingen (hereinafter: University) supports and promotes Open Access for scientific publications. ^2Itstrives to make all its published research results available in Open Access.

^3OpenAccess publications can be used without access restrictions. ^4Thisdirectly and sustainably promotes research and innovation processes in science, industry and society and applies to all types of publication. 5Science^{funding bodies} such as the German Research Foundation and the European Commission demand and promote Open Access to scientific publications and research data. ^6Mandatessuch as those of the European Commission and the European Research Council make the implementation of Open Access mandatory for all funded projects.

^7Thisguideline sets out a general framework of recommendations for Open Access at the University and supplements the guideline on research data adopted by the University. ^8TheUniversity respects the principle of free choice of publication channels, which is protected by academic freedom. ^9Itrecommends weighing up the options on the basis of disciplinary publication cultures, the data protection requirements of the respective research subject and the individual career situation of the authors. ^{10Researchers}from all disciplines are, however, advised to critically examine the quality assurance in the respective journals before publishing and to refrain from submitting to dubious journals and editors. ^11Thiscan damage one's own career and that of co-authors, as well as weaken the publication lists and thus the chances of success of research consortia. ^{12In addition}, a system is supported that is primarily aimed at maximizing the number of publications without sufficient quality assurance.

Rules and regulations

(1) ^1Researchersat the University of Göttingen publish independently in compliance with the University's "Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice", the "Affiliation Guidelines" and its disciplinary standards. ^2Thisincludes a careful selection of the publication medium based on subject-specific quality standards as well as striving for the greatest possible public availability of their own results, as realized in Open Access.

(2) University institutions are required to engage with Open Access practices in their disciplines and to actively participate in the implementation of Open Access, for example by encouraging their university members to take responsibility for Open Access publication channels or to make the institutions' evaluation practices Open Access-compatible.

(3) ^{1 Authors}should not assign exclusive rights of use when concluding publishing contracts. ^2Theyshould at least expressly secure simple rights of use for the distribution of their publications in Open Access.

(4) ^1Authorsshould provide the University of Göttingen with a copy of their publication at the time of publication if possible and grant the right to archive it in the publication data management GRO.publications and make it publicly available. ^2Thisapplies in particular to publications that are not yet available elsewhere in the final version in Open Access permanently and citable via an Open Access repository. ^3Thesepublication profiles can also be easily integrated into the university's website ^viaGRO.publications. ^4Whenarchiving, a version should be selected that can be made available Open Access without delay. ^5Thisapplies to all publication types.

(5) Authors are required to use the support of the University of Göttingen and funding organizations to realize Open Access.

(6) If costs are incurred for Open Access publication, these are to be included in the third-party funding projects (e. g. German Research Foundation, European Commission), covered by the institutions' budgets or applied for via the University's central publication fund.

Implementation

(1) ^1TheUniversity advises and supports its researchers in the practical implementation of Open Access, publishing contracts, licensing and copyright issues and compliance with publication-relevant requirements from third-party funded projects. ^2Theseservices are located at the Göttingen State and University Library (hereinafter referred to as SUB Göttingen). ^3Furtherinformation and contact persons can be found on the SUB website.

(2) When publishing, the University recommends the use of established Open Access licenses (e. g. Creative Commons), if possible directly with the publisher's publication or a copyrighted manuscript version on Open Access repositories.

(3) ^1Inaddition, the University supports its researchers in exercising their right to secondary publication, subject to an embargo period of 12 months (Section 38 (4) UrhG). ^2Theacademic secondary publication right applies to contributions which have appeared in a collection (e. g. journal) which is published periodically at least twice a year and which have been produced in the context of at least half publicly funded research.

(4) ^1Ifpublication costs are requested in projects, the SUB Göttingen will assist in calculating the requirements. ^{2In addition}to such decentralized publication funds, the University operates a central publication fund. ^3Thesupport is provided within the framework of the available funds and the allocation guidelines of the funding bodies.

(5) ^1TheUniversity operates its own institutional and subject-specific Open Access infrastructures for the management and provision of publications and contributes to national and international infrastructures and standards. ^2Inparticular, it supports open access publication infrastructures that do not incur any direct costs for the authors ("Diamond Open Access").

(6) The University runs the Göttingen University Press, which publishes books in Open Access and supports the establishment of Open Access series and journals.