OA2020-DE and Knowledge Unlatched planning large-scale conversion of journals to Open Access

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OA2020-DE and Knowledge Unlatched planning large-scale conversion of journals to Open Access



Bielefeld/Berlin, 09.10.2018. OA202-DE, the German National Contact Point Open Access, and Knowledge Unlatched (KU), the central platform for sustainable Open Access (OA) financing models, are working together to convert scientific journals from a subscription model to Open Access on a large scale. As many as 50 journals from ten publishers are to be made available to all users free of charge from 2019. The conversion is to be financed by an international consortium over a period of three years. Savings in subscription funds from the negotiations of the DEAL project will be used by German libraries for this purpose.

"The switch to Open Access for journals must be accelerated, and libraries can play a central role in this phase," says Dirk Pieper, Head of OA2020-DE. "It is precisely by shifting funds within the framework of the DEAL project negotiations that many of us now have the opportunity to allocate funds in such a way that the transformation can succeed”. In addition, OA2020-DE and KU are striving to involve international consortia and other institutions as partners in the project.

"Ever since its inception Knowledge Unlatched has sought to make as much book and journal content available Open Access as possible," says Dr. Sven Fund, Managing Director of KU. "We are pleased to be able to support OA2020-DE and other international partners in the Big Flip with our know-how and our infrastructure.” 50 journals from all fields of science and research have been submitted by ten publishers and are now being selected by a Title Selection Committee. The following publishers are participating in the project: American Institute of Physics, Berghahn, Brill, De Gruyter, Emerald, John Benjamins, and a few other publishers. Libraries are now invited to commit financial support to the project via Knowledge Unlatched.

About OA2020-DE: The Alliance of German Science Organisations promotes the National Open Access Contact Point with the aim of creating the conditions for largescale Open Access transformation in Germany. Complementary to the DEAL project, which is also funded by the Alliance, OA2020-DE is developing new Open Access business models in cooperation with players in the scientific publication system.


About Knowledge Unlatched (KU): Knowledge Unlatched (KU) offers free access to scholarly content for every reader across the world. Our online platform provides libraries worldwide with a central place to support Open Access models from leading publishing houses and new OA initiatives.


Contact:

Knowledge Unlatched:

Philipp Hess

philipp@knowledgeunlatched.org