OA at the Leibniz Association
The Leibniz Association has set itself the goal of promoting Open Access, the free communication of quality-assured and peer-reviewed research results in digital form. Fast, direct access to this information - any time, anywhere, free of charge and without barriers for users - enhances research efficiency, promotes international and interdisciplinary cooperation, increases the visibility and citation frequency of publications, and maximises the benefits of publicly funded research. By signing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, the Leibniz Association committed itself to create the framework necessary to achieve this goal. This commitment is being realised in coordination with other leading science organisations, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and international bodies such as UNESCO.
Implementation of the Berlin Declaration in the Leibniz Institutes
Two important steps taken by the Leibniz Association to implement the Berlin Declaration were the establishment of an Open Access Working Group in September 2005 and the passing of Guidelines on Open Access in 2007. These guidelines are being put into practice in a variety of ways. For example, the Leibniz Repository, which is currently under construction, will bring together the Leibniz Institutes' openly accessible publications. In addition, several Leibniz Institutes operate subject-based publication platforms to enable scholars and scientists to make their works publicly available via the golden and green roads to Open Access.
Open Access services and projects
In addition to collaborating in the construction of the Leibniz Repository, Leibniz Institutes provide the following services, among others, and are responsible for, or act as cooperation partners in, the following projects:
The Green Road to OA
- EconStor: an Open Access repository for economics publications operated by the German National Library of Economics (ZBW)
- ElliNET: an Open Access repository for publications from the fields of medicine, health, nutrition, environment and agriculture operated by the German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED)
- NEEO: a Europe-wide project to build a portal (Economists Online) which will provide access to full-text economics collections; German partner: German National Library of Economics (ZBW)
- pedocs: an Open Access repository for publications from the field of education which is operated by DIPF - the Leibniz Institute for Educational Research and Educational Information. Content is recruited in cooperation with specialist publishers.
- PsychPrints – European Psychology Publication Platform: an Open Access platform for European psychology operated by the Institute for Psychology Information (ZPID)
- SSOAR: the Social Sciences Open Access Repository operated by GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences.
The Golden Road to OA
- Economics: an Open Access journal published by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and the German National Library of Economics (ZBW)
- German Medical Science: an Open Access publishing platform in medicine operated by the German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED)
- GIGA Journal Family: the GIGA – German Institute of Global and Area Studies Open Access journals
- ISI - Social Indicators Information Service: an Open Access journal published by GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
- MDA - Methods, Data, Analysis. Journal for Empirical Social Research : an Open Access journal published by GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
- SCOAP3: Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics. Partner: German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB)
About the Leibniz Association
The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Association, known as the Leibniz Association, acts as an umbrella organisation for 86 institutes that conduct research or provide scientific infrastructure. Some 6,500 Leibniz scholars and scientists work in the humanities and social sciences, in economics, spatial and life sciences, mathematics, natural and engineering sciences and in environmental research. Altogether, the Leibniz Institutes employ over 14,000 people and have an annual budget of more than one billion euros.
To find out who to contact with regard to Open Access at the Leibniz Association (including the Open Access Guidelines), please click here.
