Open Access Books

Funding for Open Access Books

Since spring 2024, open access books have been funded by the Lower Saxony Publication Fund "NiedersachsenOPEN" (duration: 1 March 2024 - 28 February 2027). Interested authors at Leuphana should contact the Open Access Team at the MIZ, as they will check the eligibility for funding and decide on the approval of funding applications.
 

PLEASE NOTE
Please contact the Open Access Team before you have submitted a manuscript to a publisher and signed a publishing contract.

  • How much is the funding?
  • Who is eligible for funding?
  • What requirements must be met?
  • Funding Notice
  • Workflow
  • Consultation

How much is the funding?

The Open Access Team determines an individual funding limit based on the publisher's cost calculation (see workflow).
As part of the MIZ Publication Fund, the absolute funding limit is EUR 7,000 (including tax). In the context of NiedersachsenOPEN, the grant may be higher under certain circumstances.

The grant refers exclusively to the open access edition, so that costs for the print version (e.g. for author copies) are not eligible for funding.

Who is eligible for funding?


MIZ Publication Fund

Eligible for funding are full-time professors and research assistants who are in an employment relationship with Leuphana as well as internal scholarship holders. Professors and research assistants who are only working temporarily or as guests, external scholarship holders and registered doctoral students without employment relationship with Leuphana are not eligible for funding. This employment relationship with Leuphana has to exist until the time of the final print approval by the publisher.
 

Publication fund of the state of Lower Saxony

Eligible for funding are researchers who are affiliated with institutions within the remit of the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK).

What requirements must be met?

Both the MIZ Publication Fund and the Publication Fund of the State of Lower Saxony must fulfil the quality standards for open access books of the AG Universitätsverlage.
 

Key criteria

  • the publication must have undergone a professional review process (peer review or editorial review). There is transparent proof of quality assurance by the publisher or a quality guarantee by the editorial board. The publisher should be listed in the DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books) or be a member of OASPA (Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association).
  • the publisher has provided a transparent cost calculation. This should clearly indicate the open-access-related services and costs. The total costs must be in reasonable proportion to the services offered by the publisher.
  • the book is published under a free licence (recommended: Creative Commons licences CC BY 4.0 or CC BY-SA 4.0). The editors / authors transfer only a non-exclusive usage right to the publisher.
  • the publication is DRM-free (without copy protection).
  • the publication receives a DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
  • the open access version of the book is published at the same time as the print version (if available).
  • the publication should be listed in the DOAB and referenced in the OAPEN Library (Open Access Publishing in European Networks).
  • the book contains a Leuphana funding notice.
  • the affiliation of the editors/authors to Leuphana is indicated in the book.
  • the publishing contract (prior to being signed by the authors) and the imprint (prior to publication of the book) are to be submitted to the Open Access Team.

Funding Notice


MIZ Publication Fund

German publication
Diese Publikation wurde gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg.     

English publication
This publication was funded by the Open Access Publication Fund of the Leuphana University Lüneburg.
 

Publication fund of the state of Lower Saxony

German publication
Diese Veröffentlichung wurde aus Mitteln des Publikationsfonds NiedersachsenOPEN, gefördert aus zukunft.niedersachsen, unterstützt.

English publication
This publication received financial support from the publication fund NiedersachsenOPEN, funded by zukunft.niedersachsen.

Workflow

Funding requests can generally be submitted to the Open Access Team at any time: openaccess@leuphana.de. The likelihood of approval increases if you contact us early, even if you are still in the process of searching for a publisher.

To assess eligibility for funding, the Open Access Team requires a publisher's quote (cost estimate) from the authors. This quote should clearly outline the Open Access-related services and costs, as well as indicate the expected number of pages. Based on the publisher's quote, the funding grant is calculated. Afterward, the (unsigned) publishing contract is sent to the Open Access Team. Additionally, the funding application is submitted to the Team.

If the funding requirements are met, the Open Access Team approves the submitted funding application. The publishing contract can then be signed by the authors and sent to the Open Access Team. Funding commitments are valid for 12 months. If the publication is not completed within this period, a new funding application is required.

Before the work is published, the Open Access Team reviews the final front matter and the imprint to verify the funding acknowledgment, the Creative Commons license, and the copyright notice.

Depending on the publication project, the invoice may be addressed directly to the MIZ Publications Service. For publications under NiedersachsenOPEN, the MIZ provides pre-financing and subsequently applies for reimbursement from the Niedersachsen Consortium Secretariat.

Consultation

If you have any questions regarding the funding of open access books, the Open Access Team will be pleased to support you: openaccess@leuphana.de

Contact

Gesa Baron
Universitätsallee 1, CB.107
21335 Lüneburg
Fon +49.4131.677-1183
gesa.baron@leuphana.de

Martin Bilz
Universitätsallee 1, CB.105
21335 Lüneburg
Fon +49.4131.677-1113
martin.bilz@leuphana.de