Funding of articles in gold Open Access journals
The Open Access Publication Fund of Leipzig University covers the publication costs for research articles in OA journals publishing ALL articles immediately as open access (= gold OA).
If you are planning to apply for funding from the Open Access Publication Fund, please submit an application (at the latest when submitting your manuscript). This also applies for submissions in gold OA journals that are included in transformative agreements with Leipzig University where discounts on Article Processing Charges (APC) are usually negotiated as part of the agreement.
Publication costs of up to 2,000 Euro (incl. 19% VAT) per article can be covered by the Open Access Publication Fund in accordance with the eligibility criteria of the fund. If the total costs exceed 2,000 Euro, the difference must be covered by the authors' own budget and third-party funds.
An overview of the almost 500 journals in which articles have been published with the support of the Open Access Publication Fund since 2014 can be found at OpenAPC.
Please find further information on open access publishing in our link collection.
The following criteria must be met to qualify for support from the Open Access Publication Fund:
- The submitting, corresponding author responsible for the payment of article processing charges must be affiliated with Leipzig University.
- The journal of choice publishes all articles open access immediately. Open Access options for single articles in subscription journals do not qualify for support.
- The journal complies with the accepted scientific standards of the respective field of research. Commentaries and other formats that are non-primary research formats are generally not supported.
- Authors publishing results from third-party funded projects are obliged to verify that there are no dedicated means available for publication within those funds. In cases where funding is available, but does not suffice, the difference can be paid from the Publication Fund.
- Funded Publications must contain a funding acknowledgement by the Open Access Publication Fund, e.g. „Supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of Leipzig University“
- Article processing charges can be covered up to 2.000 EUR per article (19 % VAT included). If charges exceed 2.000 EUR, the respective author is responsible to balance the remaining amount due. Please be aware, that APCs are usually displayed as net prices on journal websites.
- Only articles published in the current calendar year are eligible for support. Articles still under review will be transferred to the following calendar year. Authors will be informed about possible changes in the conditions and criteria of support.
- The date of receipt of the correct invoice at the Open Science Office will determine the order of processing. The date of application is not relevant.
- In order to allow for more reliability in funding for junior scientists, 15 % of the budget will be reserved for this group. This covers PhD students and Postdocs including scientists working on their habilitation. To still allow for an efficient consumption of funds, the reservation will be revoked by October 1st.
- In case of early consumption of the fund, the management of Leipzig University will examine options to restock the fund. If a raise of the fund is not feasible or is conceivably insufficient, all remaining articles will be funded at a lowered (co-)funding amount. The date of receipt of the correct invoice at the Open Science Office will determine the order of funding and processing. The date of application is not relevant.
- In case of changes in funding conditions, especially regarding the amount of funding, applicants will be informed as soon as possible.
- Please inform yourself if you met the eligibility criteria.
- Please submit an application using the web form.
We recommend submitting the application as early as possible, but no later than when the article is accepted. You will receive feedback on the formal eligibility of your application as soon as possible, usually no later than the next working day. Acceptance is always subject to the availability of funds at the time of invoicing and only for the current calendar year. Applicants will be informed at an early stage about a possible limitation of the funding amount.
- If your article has been accepted, please contact us (openscience@ub.uni-leipzig.de). We will then usually take care of invoicing and processing the payment.
- Please note that APCs are generally taxed and that the information provided by publishers and journals is generally net.
- Please include a funding acknowledgement in the publication, e.g.: "Supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of Leipzig University”.
- Please also note information and specifications in the publication guidelines of Leipzig University.
Leipzig University supports the call for disclosure of open access fees of the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany and participate in the Open APC project to make the information on all payments publicly available.
- Frequently Cited Open Access Journals
Interactive list of frequently cited open access journals - Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Lists open access journals and allows browsing by subject - Member list of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association
Association of publishers of open access journals that adhere to a strict code of conduct - Committee on Publication Ethics
Commitee on the ethics of scientific publishing - eigenfactor.org
Enables searches of open access journals and plots author charges versus impact - Journal List Web of Science
List of open access journals in Thomson Reuters Web of Science
Tip: use the Web of Science database to search for open access journals in your field! - QOAM – Quality Open Access Market
Plattform for the evaluation of open access journals. Share your experience! - JANE – Journal/Author Name Estimator
Semantic search tool not only for open access journals, especially useful for scienes - oa.finder – Recherchetool für wissenschaftliche Zeitschriften
The oa.finder helps to find suitable oa publishing options by keyword searching. Caution! The information concerning cost absorption is not always up to date, please contact the Open Science Office before submission. - B!SON
Recommendation tool for open access journals based on semantic and bibliometric methods