Open Access News

The Open Science Newsletter edition June 2025 has been released, containing amongst other items:

• Open Science Festival in Groningen
• Open Access Guide renewed
• PLoS OA deal
• and more

The National Open Science Festival 2025 is taking place on October 24th. It is hosted in the UMCG!
You can find further information. We hope to see you here and please help us spread the word!

The registration for participation and the call for submissions are now open.

• We encourage you to register early to secure a spot. 
• The call for contributions (workshops, poster sessions, and information market) is open until June 30.

As of April 2025, the UG is a sponsoring member of Peer Community In (PCI). PCI is a scholar-led, non-profit organization offering peer review, recommendation and publication of scientific articles in open access for free. PCI is currently supported by 160+ universities and research institutions worldwide.This initiative offers a transparent, inclusive and affordable alternative publication model which is in line with the UG’s open science values and objectives.

How does it work?
Authors deposit their preprint, data, code in any open repository. They then submit the preprint to one of the thematic PCIs for open peer review. After evaluation by experts in the field, the article may be recommended (following a positive editorial decision made by a recommender based on at least two rigorous peer reviews and after one or several rounds of peer reviews). The recommendations are published in the thematic PCI websites and are fully citable. Authors can then decide to publish their article in Peer Community Journal (for free) or submit it to another journal.

What authors say about PCI
“I was a recommender for PCI, and it was basically like reviewing a paper. I am personally in favour of this approach since I think it is important that all science is openly available and not subject to large open access fees (this makes it unreachable for people from developing countries for example). Moreover, I think research should be judged on methodological accuracy, rather than how exciting the results are. I think PCI achieves these objectives. [...] What I think is interesting is that PCI is clearly focused on quality, since to become a recommender, you actually need to pass an exam. In other contexts, there are no such quality control measures.”
Dr. Marieke van Vugt, Associate Professor in Cognitive Modeling (Faculty of Science and Engineering). 

“I see PCI and the PCI Journal as an amazing tool to challenge «mega journals». They provide a great outlet to publish solid research that cannot find a home in a more field-specific venue. It would probably save us (academia, funders, university) a ton of money in APCs if publishing there was more recognized.”
Dr. Sebastian Lequime, Assistant Professor in Virus Ecology & Evolution (Faculty of Science and Engineering). 

Read more about PCI

The UMCG participates in a national open access agreement with the publisher PLOS. 
The agreement applies to seven journals. All publication types are covered under the agreement.

• PLOS ONE
• PLOS Complex Systems
• PLOS Computational Biology
• PLOS Digital Health
• PLOS Genetics
• PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• PLOS Pathogens

Research funders NWO and ZonMW are also contributing financially to the agreement. 

Financial implications for UMCG authors
Although both UG and UMCG participate in the deal, it has different financial implications for UG and UMCG authors: 

• UMCG-affiliated authors receive a 50% discount 
• UMCG-affiliated authors receive a 100% discount when project research funding by NWO or ZonMW is acknowledged in the article.

Please read the Medical Library Guide Act On Submission during submission for details and how to make use of the deal.

What are the conditions for using this agreement?
You can benefit from the agreement if you submit your article and list the UMCG as your primary affiliation. 
NB: Acknowledging NWO and/or ZonMW project funding (when applicable) in the manuscript and during the submission process is essential to obtaining a 100% discount. 
Please follow these guidelines during the submission process. 

When is the agreement valid?
The contract takes effect as of 1 January 2025, and will be valid for two years. The date of editorial acceptance determines eligibility. In December 2025, the discount percentage for 2026 will be announced. 

What should I do if I receive an invoice?
No APC payment is required at the time of publication. If your article is accepted in 2025, you should not receive an invoice for publishing in any of the eligible PLOS journals listed above. If you still receive an invoice from PLOS, please contact openaccess@umcg.nl and attach the invoice).

Who finances the publication costs and how are they handled?

• UMCG researchers will receive a 50% discount. The remainder of the APC has to be financed by the authors/departments, as usual. You will not receive an invoice from the publisher. Internal reimbursement goes via the Medical Library and your department/project controller.
• NWO and/or ZonMW participate in this deal and cover part of the costs. Thanks to their contributions, for articles acknowledging project funding from NWO and/or ZonMW, a 100% discount applies. Publication costs will not be internally charged to your department or project. Hence, authors cannot submit claims for reimbursement to ZonMW or NWO budgets.
• For all publications: researchers will receive a message from the Medical Library informing them whether or not their publication will be charged, depending on whether their project was funded by NWO/ZonMw.

For information and practical deatils: Medical ibrary guide Act On Submission 

The Open Science Newsletter edition February 2025 has been released, containing amongst other items:

• Celebrating Openness
• Funding: calls and grant rewards!
• Open Science Ambassadors: best practices and support for you! 
• and more

The University of Groningen launches the second funding cycle of the open access book fund. UG- and UMCG-affiliated authors can apply for funding the publication of their open access monograph or edited volume.  

This funding instrument aims to stimulate the publication of open access academic books. The fund can be used to pay for the open access fee, also known as Book Processing Charge (BPC). The maximum reimbursement is 5,000 Euros per publication. 
The first funding cycle ran from 2022-2023 and contributed to the publication of 47 open access books.

If you have any questions about the fund, contact the MB-Open Access support team: openaccess@umcg.nl.
The UB-Open Access support team is here to help and advise you with regard to book contract negotiations: openaccess@rug.nl.

• Fund regulations, application process and key changes from the previous funding cycle
• Application form

Under the Taylor & Francis agreement, Dutch corresponding authors can publish up to 1,451 open access articles per year without APC charges.

The quota for 2024 has been reached. This means that the deal is suspended and UG/UMCG articles will no longer be eligible for the usual 100% discount on the open access fee.

Dutch corresponding authors will be able to use the new allocation of OA fee waivers as of 1 January 2025.

Alternative routes
During the suspension of the deals, authors can choose to publish closed access. Alternative routes to make your article open access may be the Taverne Amendment route or the Rights Retention Strategy, please contact us for additional information.

Please note: If you choose to publish open access, you will have to arrange the APC payment yourself.

Should your research funder (e.g. NWO or Horizon Europe) require you to share your publications immediately (no embargo) and under an open license, please get in touch with us for advice.

Contact us
If you wish to discuss the available options or if you have any questions email us at:
openaccess@umcg.nl

Due to a change in the workflow of the publishers BioMedCentral and Springer(Open), you have to select ‘University of Groningen’ from the drop-down menu, and NOT the UMCG anymore. 

More submission details are to found on the Library Guide Act on Submission and Acceptance.

Under the Oxford University Press agreement, Dutch corresponding authors are allowed to publish a maximum number of open access publications per year without APC charges: 733 articles in 2024 (of which 653 in hybrid journals and 80 in gold journals), 707 in 2025 and 680 in 2026.

The hybrid quota for 2024 has been reached. This means that from now the deal is suspended for OUP hybrid journals and UG/UMCG articles will no longer be eligible for the usual 100% discount on the open access fee. The agreement continues to be valid for gold OA journals. 

Dutch corresponding authors will be able to use the new allocation of OA fee waivers as of 1 January 2025.

Alternative routes
During the suspension of the deal, authors can choose to publish closed access. Alternative routes to make your article open access may be the Taverne Amendment route or the Rights Retention Strategy, please contact us for additional information.

Please note: If you choose to publish open access, you will have to arrange the APC payment yourself.

Should your research funder (e.g. NWO or Horizon Europe) require you to share your publications immediately (no embargo) and under an open license, please get in touch with us for advice.

Contact us
If you wish to discuss the available options or if you have any questions email us at:
openaccess@umcg.nl