Open-Access-Transformation Contract “Hormone and Metabolic Research”

• Applicants: Dr. Bernhard Mittermaier; Professor Dr. Dietrich Rebholz-Schuhmann
• Subject Area: Endocrinology, Diabetology, Metabolism ; Gastroenterology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 414049467

The project aims at transforming a single journal from a subscription model to Open Access Gold. This pilot will allow a medium-sized German publisher, who has not yet gathered much experience in Open Access publishing, to gain valuable experience with this publishing model. In particular, given the economic risks associated with changing the publishing model, the publisher seeks to gather experience with new mechanisms and methods (in example author identification). Dependent on how publishing parameters are behaving and if sustainability can be achieved, the publisher is explicitly interested in expanding the Open Access model to the publisher’s entire portfolio. In view of the relatively small number of about two dozen license subscribers and about two dozen OA articles per annum, the publisher will initially make the required adjustments manually. However, it has been agreed with the publisher to evaluate first results already in 2019 and dependent on the outcome of the evaluation to include further journals in the transformation process. In this case, automatization of processes will be implemented. Also, for most license subscribers this pilot project offers a first time opportunity to gather experience with Open Access transformation.

• DFG Programme: Science Communication, Research Data, eResearch (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)