Open Access

About Open Access

Open access (OA) represents free and unrestricted worldwide online access to scientific information.

The institute is practising Open Access of scientific results as stated in the Berlin Declaration in two ways:

1. Gold Open Access: Publication in Open Access Journals

The publication of research results in prestigious, peer reviewed open access journals is the easiest way to make them available worldwide free of charge. Copyright will remain with the authors while an open content license (usually Creative Commons license CC-BY) is applied to the article.

The Max Planck Society promotes publication in open access journals and supports scientists by covering publication fees for selected journals. Costs for publication in other “gold road” open access publications are borne by the FHI library.

2. Green Open Access: Institutional self-archiving in MPG.PuRe

The library supports self-archiving and accessibility of full texts in the institutional repository of the Max Planck Society. Scientists can use MPG.PuRe to self-archive a second publication of their accepted and published manuscript. In addition, they can archive other publication forms, such as selected book chapters.

Authors are encouraged to inform the library when a publication is submitted to a publisher.

Further information & useful links

FAQ Open Access for FHI Authors

How can I make my work open access?

The publication of research results in fully open access journals is one way to make your scientific results available worldwide free of charge. Copyright will remain with you as an author while a public license (usually Creative Commons license CC-BY) is applied to the article.
Or you can use the Max Planck institutional repository, MPG.PuRe, to self-archive a second publication of your accepted and published manuscript. The Max Planck Society aims at the transformation of today’s scholarly journals from the current subscription system to new open access publishing models and supports scientists by covering publication fees (article processing charges) for selected subscription journals. See our Gold Open Access Publishing page for more information.

Does my funder have an open access policy?

Most research funders (e.g. EU) require grant-holders to make their publications open access. See our Open Access & EU Grants page for more information or contact the library team for specific advice.

Can the library pay my Gold open access costs?

The library pays the fees for publishing in fully open access journals. Furthermore there are numerous journals with central payment. See our Gold Open Access Publishing page for more information.

How do I arrange payment for Gold Open Access Journals via the FHI library?

You will need to meet the following conditions when publishing Gold Open Access:

  • The article has been accepted by an original open access journal offering a CC-BY license.
  • One of the authors is affiliated with the FHI and publishes under this affiliation.
  • The FHI must be stated as the billing address on the invoice.
  • The institute’s VAT number must be stated on the invoice.

What if I don't have the final accepted manuscript?

You need to ask the corresponding author or your co-authors for the final accepted manuscript so that you can send it to the library. Alternatively, the journal may be able to provide you with a copy that you can use.

How can I check the copyright status of my article?

If your article is already accepted for publication, you can check the copyright transfer agreement from your publisher. Please send a copy of the copyright transfer agreement to the library. Only if all agreements specified in the contract are known can further usage of the publication be decided on.
You can check the journal’s open access policy, including copyright information, using SHERPA/RoMEO.

Is there funding for page / colour charges?

Your research group/department or your funder might pay your publication charges (page, colour and figure publication fees). Check the terms and conditions of your research grant for details.

Can I get publication lists?

Publication lists can be exported from MPG.Pure and embedded in the FHI-webpages (only Max Planck CMS Fiona). Alternatively, you can link from your webpage to appropriate result lists in MPG.PuRe. Please contact the library for more information.

Which repository can I use that is compliant with OpenAIRE?

It is mandatory for Horizon 2020-projects to put their research outputs into an Open Access repository compliant with OpenAIRE. MPG.Pure is a fully OpenAIRE compliant repository and the library assists you in making your research output available in MPG.PuRe. Please contact the library team.

Where can I deposit my research data? How can I make my research data open?

There are several options to deposit data: Using an online repository, sharing data along with a publication, preparing a data article for a data journal.
If you decide to use a public data repository, data should be submitted to discipline-specific repositories where possible, or to generalist repositories if no suitable community-recognized repository is available.
Edmond is the Open Research Data Repository of the Max Planck Society. It serves the publication of research data from all disciplines and offers scientists the ability to create citable research objects. All Max Planck scientists can register themselves to publish their data in Edmond.
Zenodo is an open data repository, developed and operated by CERN. It is a catch-all repository welcoming research from all over the world, and from every discipline. Zenodo does not impose any requirements on format, size, access restrictions or licence and it is integrated into reporting for research funded by the European Commission. A digital object identifier (DOI) is automatically assigned to all Zenodo files.
re3data offers detailed information on more than 2,000 research data repositories categorized by subject and country.

Where can I make my manuscript available according to §38 Abs. 4 UrhG (Zweitveröffentlichungsrecht/right to secondary publication)?

The accepted manuscript version can be made available in MPG.PuRe. Please send this version to the library team. Works published since January 1, 2014 in a periodical that appears at least biannually and whose underlying research is funded at least 50% by non-university institutions or public third-party funds, may be published a second time in the accepted manuscript version in MPG.PuRe within twelve months of initial publication.

How can I be sure that an open access publisher is a trusted and not a 'predatory' publisher?

The vast majority of open access publishers are credible, and the choice of where to publish is entirely at your discretion as an author.
We can provide you assistance if you are considering submitting to an open access publisher or journal that is unknown to you, or to a fully open access journal that is not listed on the Directory of Open Access Journals.
You might find the Think, Check, Submit service useful.

How can I get permission to include an article into my cumulative dissertation (kumulative Dissertation)?

Please check the publisher conditions regarding the reuse of articles in your dissertation. The provisions of your publishing contract are authoritative.
If it is not expressly permitted in the publishing contract to reuse the article in your dissertation, see the information page by the TU university library.

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