What should you bear in mind when publishing open access

Would you like to make your next publications "open access"?
Based on our many years of experience in advising on all aspects of publishing, we have put together a few tips for you.

Find out more about open access and stay up to date.

• Your university library is a good place to start.

• If there is a subject-specific information service (FID) for your subject, you will find subject-specific information there.

• For German-speaking countries, open-access.network is the central platform for general and subject-specific information.

• When it comes to books, the OA Books Toolkit may be of interest.

Find out who you can ask locally.

• For the University of Münster, you can find an overview of your contact persons on the library's publishing pages.

Choose the journal or publisher carefully.

Are impact factor or "publisher reputation" important to you?

• Why? There are reasons; you just need to be aware of them.
• Does your preferred journal or publisher offer open access options?

Is "thematic fit" important to you?

• Browse the DOAJ for journals filtered by subject.
• Use recommendation services such as B!SON or oa.finder.

Is compliance with funding requirements important to you?

• The Journal Checker Tool can provide information on this.

Are the publisher's services and costs important to you?

• What type of review does a journal use: editorial review, peer review, open review? And how long does the process take?
• For book publications, there are catalogs of criteria such as
  • the "Quality Standards for Open Access Books" of the AG Universitätsverlage (University Publishers Working Group),
  • the guide "Services and Cost Framework for Contemporary Open Access Publications in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Proposal for Differentiation of OA Fees According to Publisher Type. Services according to publisher type" from the ENABLE! network, or
  • the "AuROA service catalog for scientific open access publications: Transparent list of tasks for book publications."
• What are you willing and able to pay for, and how much?
  • What services does the publisher provide for the money? Is the offer understandable?
  • What funding opportunities are available ...
    • at your own university: funds, framework agreements
    • in your field: specialist information services, professional associations

Where have your colleagues had good or bad experiences?

Read and understand author contracts

• Ask the publisher questions until you understand all the clauses!
• If necessary, the staff at your university library can help you with any questions you may have.
• Talk to your colleagues about it.
• Insist on open access-compliant licenses, e.g., CC licenses. (Be careful with the CC-NC component!)
• Clarify any special legal aspects – e.g., art illustrations or screenshots from film clips – before signing the contract.
• The contract generator developed by the AuROA project can provide you with suggestions: guided by questions, you can compile a contract for an open access (book) publication with relevant and optional elements. This provides you with a legally secure document and a basis for cooperation with publishers.

If gold is not possible, is green an option?

• If the first publication of your work is only available in closed access, ask the publisher whether a "green" second publication in open access is possible.
• German copyright law includes a right of second publication.
• The  Open policy finder (formerly Sherpa Romeo) collects information on regulations for journals.
• Your university's repository could serve as a publication location (for the University of Münster: miami). Where available, a subject-specific publication server may also be a good choice (e.g., SSOAR for the social sciences); alternatively, you could use a general repository such as Zenodo.

Ensure that your publications are "properly recorded".

• Do you already have an ORCID iD?
• Does your institution have an affiliation policy? (Affiliation policy of the University of Münster)
• When citing and "sending" your work, always use the link with the DOI of your article or book, not the "browser URL." For example, use https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198035 instead of https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198035.

Don't just think about "normal" publications.

• You probably also have lecture slides, right?
• Or research data?
• Or software you developed yourself?
• Or blog posts or podcast episodes or ...?
• You can also publish these types of media and publications on miami, for example, free of charge, freely accessible, secured for the long term, and with a permanently valid address!

This article is based on the presentation "Your article or book in gold or green: Tips for open access publishing (not only) in the humanities".