New cost ceiling
The University of Stuttgart is making more money available to fund open access publications in scientific journals. In future, up to EUR 2,400 gross will be paid for publications in gold open access journals. For publication costs above EUR 2,400, authors will be supported by the Open Access team to negotiate discounts. For article fees over 2,400 Euros, pro-rata funding will be provided by the University Library.
Costs will only be covered upon application. Different rules apply to transformation contracts (DEAL, etc.). All eligibility criteria and an application form are available on the university's Open Access website. The new rules apply from May 16, 2022.
Third-party funding must be exhausted first
Money for publication costs raised through third-party funding must first be used before central funds can be used. Researchers are encouraged to include open access publication costs when submitting new projects. "The Federal Ministry of Education and Research, for example, would like to see greater use of the available funds here," says Stefan Drößler, Open Access advisor at the University of Stuttgart.
Gross? Net? Financing examples
As a rule, article processing charges (APC) are incurred for publications in open access journals. Taxes must also be paid on invoices issued by foreign publishers. These are not shown on the invoice, but are incurred nonetheless. In the case of foreign currencies, the conversion rates must also be taken into account.
| Net invoice amount without taxes | Gross invoice amount incl. 19 percent VAT. | Total central funding |
|---|---|---|
|
EUR 1,000 |
EUR 1,190 | EUR 1,190 |
| EUR 2,000 | EUR 2,380 | EUR 2,380 |
| EUR 3,000 | EUR 3,570 | Funding up to EUR 2,400 |
Strategic goals
With this increase in central funding, the University of Stuttgart is seeking to facilitate the open access transformation. It shares the DFG's goals of working toward the most comprehensive cost transparency possible in the coming years. This includes structural adjustments, such as centralized invoicing workflows and the standardization of open access monitoring. Currently, not all Open Access publication costs are known, because a significant portion are paid in a decentralized manner. With the new cost ceiling of EUR 2,400, more publications will be centrally funded and thus become visible.
Authors at the university now publish around 60 percent of their scientific articles via Open Access. Transparent costs are an important prerequisite for planning expenditures and supporting underwriting negotiations with publishers.
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