What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to establish a transparent monitoring system for publication fees supported by the DFG funding program.

May 21, 2026Open Access

Shaping Transparency for Publication Costs: Collecting, Analyzing and Reporting Cost Data Using a Standardized Data Schema

Key Points

The aim is to establish a transparent monitoring system for publication fees supported by the DFG funding program.
Data collection based on submissions from institutions funded by the DFG.
Collaboration with the openCost project to enhance the data schema.
Feedback from participants in the Transform2Open project incorporated into the reporting process.
A standardized publication and cost monitoring system has been established effectively.
Adjustments in the data schema facilitate smoother data transfer with other systems like OpenAPC.
Simplification of the reporting process for institutions has been achieved.

Abstract

Through the “Open Access Publication Funding” programme 1, the German Research Foundation (DFG) is providing scientific institutions with financial support for open access publication fees. One of the programme’s key objectives is to enable a system of transparent monitoring of publication fees at scientific institutions, with the intent to leverage to the national and international level. The monitoring 2 of these publications and associated costs has been established since 2022. Data collection is based on the submission of data from funded institutions in an ongoing process that is subject to changes and adjustments. Criticism and suggestions from the participants 3 were collected in the Transform2Open project 4, and have been incorporated as far as possible into the data schema and the submission process for the second and subsequent reporting years. At the same time, adjustments were made to the data schema in collaboration with the openCost project in order to facilitate the transfer of data to other systems, mainly OpenAPC 5. Decisive steps have thus been taken towards a unified, standardized publication and cost monitoring system. This can simplify the reporting process for institutions and is an important tool for drawing up and monitoring an information budget. 1 https: //www. dfg. de/en/research-funding/funding-opportunities/programmes/infrastructure/lis/funding-opportunities/open-access-publication-funding2 https: //go. fzj. de/DFGOAPKₑn3 https: //doi. org/10. 5281/zenodo. 108107294 https: //www. transform2open. de/en/5 https: //openapc. net/Irene Barbers: https: //orcid. org/0000-0003-2011-7444Irene Barbers is Head of the Literature Acquisition Department at the Central Library of Forschungszentrum Jülich. She is responsible for the further development and operation of the Open Access Monitor as well as for monitoring the DFG funding program Open Access Publication Costs, which is carried out by Forschungszentrum Jülich on behalf of DFG. She is also part of the Transform2Open project team.

Read Full Paperexternally

Mark Helpful

Bookmark

Relay

View Full Paper