Funding of articles in gold Open Access journals

The following criteria must be met to qualify for support from the Open Access Publication Fund:

1. The submitting, corresponding author responsible for the payment of article processing charges must be affiliated with Leipzig University.
2. The journal of choice publishes all articles open access immediately. Open Access options for single articles in subscription journals do not qualify for support.
3. The journal complies with the accepted scientific standards of the respective field of research, which usually means indexing in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)*. Commentaries and other formats that are non-primary research formats are generally not supported.
4. 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.
5. 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“

* If the journal of choice is not listed in DOAJ, please contact us.

1. Article processing charges can be covered up to 2.500 EUR per article (VAT included). If charges exceed 2.500 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.
2. 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.
3.  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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. In case of changes in funding conditions, especially regarding the amount of funding, applicants will be informed as soon as possible.

1. Please inform yourself if you met the eligibility criteria.
2. 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.

3. 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.
4. Please note that APCs are generally taxed and that the information provided by publishers and journals is generally net.
5. Please include a funding acknowledgement in the publication, e.g.: "Supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of Leipzig University”.
6. 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