Open Access-Publication Fees / 2025-2027 / University Bochum

• Applicant: Dr. Jörg Albrecht
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 491052530

With this project, Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) is pursuing the goal of expanding the structures established in the first funding phase (2022-2024) with the support of the DFG to promote open access at RUB and to implement a sustainable financing model for open access publications. An important basis for this is a transparent overview of the number and expenditure for open access publications. As recommended by the German Science and Humanities Council, a transparent information budget is to be gradually created at RUB, which means expenditure on publications and media is to be recorded as completely as possible, regardless of whether it is incurred centrally or decentrally. Initial measures have already been implemented in the first funding phase (2022-2024), which are to be continued in the second funding phase and expanded with a new focus on third party funding. With regard to the institution-wide monitoring of publications, the database and data quality of the University Bibliography are to be further expanded. In order to achieve institution-wide cost monitoring for open access publications, open access publications will continue to be processed centrally via the University Library wherever possible. The central publication funds for journals and books and the transformation contracts are important building blocks for this. In order to be able to continue to determine decentralised publication costs, the University Library and the finance department are working together on a pilot project for electronic procurement to integrate the University Library into the invoice workflow for publication and media invoices. Ruhr University Bochum signed the Berlin Declaration in 2013 and is committed to the science policy demand for open access to scientific publications. In 2022, RUB adopted an Open Science Policy in which RUB committed to promoting open science within the institution. In addition, RUB joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) in 2023 in order to initiate a cultural change in research assessment together with institutions from all over the world and to establish new principles of research assessment, including publications.

• DFG Programme: Science Communication, Research Data, eResearch (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Co-Investigator: Kathrin Lucht-Roussel