Open Access Publication Fund

The Open Access Publication Fund assumes the payment of publication fees (APCs), provided that the requirements set out below are met. If you are not sure whether your publication complies with the funding guidelines, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Please note that the assumption of costs is only possible on application. You can apply for the assumption of costs no more than 4 weeks before submitting the manuscript.
Apply for covering your article's APC

In addition, some publishers offer discounts on the publication fee (APC) and/or central payment for members of Goethe University. Please refer to our overview page to find out whether additional discounts can be applied to your planned submission.
Overview of additional agreements with publishers

Funding requirements for articles in Open Access journals

• The »corresponding/submitting author« named in the article is a member or affiliate of Goethe University. This must be clearly stated in the affiliation section by stating »Goethe-Universität« or »Goethe University«. When specifying the affiliation, the requirements of the Affiliation Policy of Goethe University must be adhered to.

Goethe University recommends that its members create an ORCID profile and cite the ORCID-iD when publishing. The OA team of the University Library will be happy to advise you on this.

Most researchers at the University Hospital Frankfurt are members of Goethe University. If you are unsure about your affiliation with Goethe University, please get in contact with us before submitting your paper. When specifying the affiliation, »Goethe University« must be stated at top level according to the affiliation policy of Goethe University (for example: »Goethe University Frankfurt, University Hospital, Department/Clinic of ..., , Frankfurt am Main, Germany«).
• The article is published in a pure Open Access journal (»Gold Open Access«) that has a strict quality assurance procedure (usually peer review). The journal must be indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals. In case of doubt, please refer to our notes on assessing the quality of OA journals. Publication fees that serve to make individual articles in conventional closed access journals Open Access (so-called »hybrid open access«) cannot be funded.

As part of some transformative agreements, the university library funds hybrid open access (see further information in the section Agreements with Publishers).
• Regardless of the amount, the publication fee is funded up to a maximum of 2,000 euros net or 2,380 euros gross. Publication fees in excess of EUR 2,000 can be funded on a pro rata basis.

In the case of higher publication fees, we still recommend negotiating a discount with the publisher referring to the funding limit of the OA publication fund. This should be done before the invoice is issued. Please contact us if you require any assistance.
• Authors from third-party funded projects that have funds available for publication costs should primarily use those funds.

Applying for funding

We would be happy to advise you in advance on eligible Open Access journals. Please contact us at the latest when your article has been accepted for publication by the publisher and you have received the invoice. Then simply send us an informal email with the invoice attached.
If your article meets the funding requirements the Open Access Fund will pay the invoice directly to the publisher.

The Open Access Publication Fund of the Goethe University promotes the Open Access publication of books (monographs and anthologies). 20 books resulting from DFG-funded research and 45 books without a DFG background can be funded per year.

Cost coverage follows the first come, first serve principle.

As of July 2025: All funding for book publications without a DFG background has already been awarded for 2025. Funding for books resulting from DFG-funded projects can still be applied for.

If you are planning to publish an Open Access book, please contact us via openaccess@ub.uni-frankfurt.de or by telephone 069/ 798-49107.
We are happy to support you in choosing a suitable publisher, especially in terms of OA publication charges and the publisher´s services.
Provided the following funding requirements are met, we will be happy to reserve an according amount to support your publication.

Funding requirements for Open Access books

The fund can cover Open Access publishing fees for books and edited volumes up to a certain amount, as long as the following funding requirements are observed:

• The funding limit for publication costs is maximum of EUR 6,000 gross (corresponds to 5,042 Euro net plus 19% sales tax). Only Open Access publication costs are covered, but no costs resulting from the production of a print edition. Any cost beyond the price cap must be covered otherwise.
• If any third-party funding for the publication is available, these funds need to be used first. The Open Access Book Fund will cover the difference, as long as it is within the cost limit.
• Funded books require at least a DOI that refers to the complete volume. Edited volumes, ideally, have additional DOIs referring to the individual chapters.
• The publication process includes peer review or other measures for scholarly quality assurance, as are common in the discipline.
• The publisher should list its OA books in OAPEN or the DOAB.
• The books are published under a Creative Commons license. The licenses CC-BY oder CC-BY-SA are preferred. A publication under a Creative Commons license including the NC (NonCommercial) component cannot be covered by the fund.
  Additionally, authors and editors must grant publishers a non-exclusive license to publish their work, only.
• The affiliation of the person funded (author or editor) to Goethe University is clearly stated within the book. In edited volumes, at least one editor is affiliated to Goethe University.
• Funding Acknowledgements: If the publication is based on DFG funded research the DFG funding is stated within the metadata and at an appropriate place in the book (e. g. the imprint), including the unique project/funding ID. Along with die DFG acknowledgement, information on the Open Access Book Fund is included. It can be stated as follows:

  „The open access publication of this book was funded by the Open Access Publication Fund of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.“

  or

  »We/the authors thank the Open Access Publication Fund of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main for supporting the open access publication of this book.«

Funding is not available for

• Single chapters or contributions to edited volumes
• Edited volumes, if only contributors are affiliated to GU – only editors of complete volumes can be funded