Successful implementation of the Open Access strategy in Brandenburg: VuK and AG Open Access Monitoring publish report

VuK supports the universities in the state of Brandenburg in the successful implementation of the Open Access strategy. This includes the introduction of measures to support the Open Access transformation. The focus is on monitoring the Open Access activities of the eight universities under the responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture (MWFK):

• Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg,
• European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder),
• Potsdam University of Applied Sciences,
• Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF,
• Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development,
• Brandenburg University of Technology,
• Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau,
• University of Potsdam.

The jointly presented report "Open Access Monitoring Brandenburg (OAMBB)" was created in a collaborative monitoring process in close cooperation between VuK and the working group, which consists of representatives of the university libraries. The report focuses on the publication volume and publication costs for 2021 and 2022 in the state of Brandenburg. It also provides an overview of the open access activities and services of the universities and the publication fund for open access monographs in the state of Brandenburg.

The newly developed monitoring approach for the state monitoring is based on five principles: strengthening the competences of those involved, the bibliodiversity of the publication volume analysed, the aggregation and re-use of existing data from different sources, the sustainability of the process and the comparability of the universities and participation in the process. A particular point of innovation is the inclusion of data from the German Library Statistics for such monitoring.

Results of the monitoring: heterogeneity and continuous increase in open access

A key finding of the report is the heterogeneity of research and publication cultures as well as university structures in the state of Brandenburg. This made it difficult to collect and analyse the data, particularly with regard to comparability. In order to avoid misunderstandings, the report emphasises the need for a qualitative classification alongside the quantitative survey.

Another aspect is the evidence of a continuous increase in open access. The total cost of open access publications increased by 101.96% from 2021 to 2022. The data analysis revealed challenges in terms of availability, consistency and quality of the publication databases. Nevertheless, it was possible to gain a quantitative overview of the status of open access in Brandenburg and to make gaps transparent.

Ms Ellen Euler emphasises: "This report successfully implements a key measure of Brandenburg's Open Access strategy and at the same time provides a fruitful starting point for further measures to monitor and manage the transformation. The methodological approach of the state monitoring is unique to date and also makes an important contribution to the further development of Open Access beyond Brandenburg. With its participatory approach, which directly involves the affected stakeholder groups, the state of Brandenburg remains true to itself in the collaborative development of open access measures and thus simultaneously ensures the acceptance of the measures and their effectiveness."

Outlook: Ongoing development of the process

This report is the first iteration of an ongoing process. Further development will be collaborative and will focus in particular on deepening the quantitative analysis and integrating additional data sources and bibliometric methods. The aim is also to analyse the specifics and expand the qualitative analysis of other activities in the field of open access.

The monitoring report is available on Zenodo in short and long form at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10666013

Further information is available at
https://open-access-brandenburg.de/