Publication Fund for Open Access Monographs

The following funding criteria were developed by the working group for the Publication Fund for Open Access Monographs together with the Open Access Brandenburg team. A detailed version is available (in German).

The criteria are essentially oriented towards the “Quality Standards for Open Access Books” of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Universitätsverlage.

The AuROA service catalog for scientific open access publications can be used to help authors and publishers agree on services in the publication process.

• The author or editor is affiliated with one of the eight universities and universities for applied sciences in the state of Brandenburg. The affiliation at the time of origin of the publication is decisive for the eligibility for funding.
• The publication is previously unpublished and will appear immediately in open access (simultaneously with or before any print edition).
• The publication is published under a Creative Commons or a comparable license compatible with Open Access.
• The publication has undergone quality control processes standard to the respective discipline (at least “Editorial Review”).
• A transparent cost calculation by the publisher, stating the costs incurring for the Open Access publication, must be submitted.
• The publisher should be listed in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) or as a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA).
• Maximum funding limit is EUR 6,000 (gross), for individual chapters in edited works and for dissertations without further preparation EUR 2,500 (gross).
• In justified cases (special effort for typesetting, excess length, image rights or similar) higher costs can be reimbursed.
• A minimum funding amount of EUR 1,000 (gross) applies.

• A print edition can be published concurrently with the Open Access publication. However, costs for the print version can not be funded.
• Open Access and print editions should be clearly marked as Open Access publications. If a print edition is distributed, it must explicitly refer to the digital Open Access edition. Information about the license needs to be stated clearly in the imprint of both the online and print editions.
• Information on publisher’s website and promotional materials clearly state that the work is available in Open Access.
• Long-term archiving of the Open Access publication is ensured (e.g. via the German National Library).
• The Open Access version of the publication has a DOI or another Persistent Identifier.
• Metadata should include: Title, additional title (if applicable), authors, editors, ORCID (if available), publication date, publisher, series title (if applicable) and volume number, persistent identifier (DOI or URN), ISBN (if additionally offered in print), license, abstract, keywords (free or taken from a classification). The metadata should be referenced in databases such as DOAB, OAPEN and, if applicable, other subject databases.
• The imprint of the print and OA editions as well as the website linking to the OA edition should contain a reference to the support from the Publication Fund (“This publication was supported by funds from the Publication Fund for Open Access Monographs of the Federal State of Brandenburg, Germany./ Diese Veröffentlichung wurde aus Mitteln des Publikationsfonds für Open-Access-Monografien des Landes Brandenburg gefördert.“).
• Authors and editors should grant the publisher simple rights of use (“einfache Nutzungsrechte”) (not exclusive rights of use). In most if not all cases judicial area will be Germany. Hence, German copyright law (Urheberrechtsgesetz) will be applied.
• Usage rights to illustrations and other materials to which third parties are entitled are legally cleared.
• The fund can be combined with other funding. 
• Print-only editions as well as final theses (bachelor’s, master’s, diploma theses) are not eligible for funding. Dissertations with the grade “summa cum laude” are eligible for funding.
• The publications are published in parallel in the repository of the respective university. A sole publication on the repository is also eligible if the publisher does not provide its own OA publication infrastructure and services. Please contact us for the applicable conditions.

Please use our application form to provide us with the information about your publication we need in order to make a funding decision. 

Please note that due to limited funds, we can only approve one application per university until March 31, 2024. From April 1, 2024, applications will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis. The procedure will be repeated from July 1, 2024 with a deadline of September 30, 2024. Unfortunately, in 2024 we will probably not be able to approve all applications that meet the funding criteria from the available budget.

The publications funded by the fund that have already been published are listed here. 

If you have any questions about the application procedure or would like to apply for funding for another OA monograph project please contact fonds@open-access-brandenburg.de. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you very much!

A Task Group consisting of members of the eight universities of the federal state of Brandenburg develops funding criteria and workflows for the publication fund in cooperation with Open Access Brandenburg.

One of our obligatory conditions for funding is the transparent cost breakdown by the publishers. Since we have repeatedly received requests to give an example of what this could look like, we are making it available below. Please note that you do not necessarily have to follow this example but can also break down other costs. In particular, we welcome the breakdown of overheads.

• Project management in editing and production: €800
• Setting and layout setup (€3.40/page, 300 pages, 20 images, standard production): €1,020
• Author’s proofreading costs: €500
• Digital preparation and management of OA sales structures: €1,000
• Marketing: €400
• Publishing overheads: €1,150
• Total (net): €4,870
• Total (including German VAT): €5.795,30