Open Access News

The University of Groningen Library (UB) and the Open Science Community Groningen (OSCG) invite you to submit your case study for the 6th annual Open Research Award (ORA) to celebrate openness in research and teaching.

The ORA award celebrates the many ways in which academics make their research or teaching more accessible, transparent or reproducible. Researchers and students are invited to submit case studies describing their experiences with open research and education practices, individually or in teams. The case studies ideally explore the benefits, challenges and difficulties of making open choices as well as positive experiences and successful outcomes. We are looking for candid accounts of academics’ motivations for making open choices, the impact the open choices had and the lessons that have been learned.

Staff members and students can submit case studies. All submissions will be screened for eligibility by a jury. The three winners will each be awarded €500.

Deadline: 14 November 2025, midnight

• Read the guidelines

• Submit a case study

Several publishers have quota-based open access agreements. Once the agreed-upon number of open access articles has been published, the national quota is reached and the cost of publishing will no longer be covered centrally.

Based on current publication trends, we expect the following caps to be reached in 2025:

Please take this into account when submitting to these publishers. After the cap is reached, authors may be faced with article processing charges (APCs) unless other arrangements are made. For more information about your options, please contact us at openaccess@umcg.nl

Alternative routes to open access
If your article is accepted after the cap has been reached, there are still ways to make your publication openly available.

For more information about your options, please contact us at openaccess@umcg.nl

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

• National Open Science Festival: 24 October in UMCG!
• Public Engagement Seed Fund open for applications
• Quota-based publishing agreements: caps expected by end of 2025
• PLoS OA 50% discount deal
• and more

If your manuscript is accepted by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) between now and 1st January 2026, the publisher will still offer to publish your article Open Access, but the costs will no longer be covered by the consortium agreement with the publisher. You will receive an invoice if you chose to publish open access.

If you still want to share your publication in Open Access, contact the Medical Library Open Access Desk for advice. 

Alternative routes to open access
If your article is accepted after the cap has been reached, there are still ways to make your publication openly available.

• The research funder covers the APC (Article Processing Charges) in open access journals, and a budget for this is included in the project proposal.
• The researcher or department covers the APC costs themselves.
• You can make use of the Taverne Amendment, which allows you to share the publisher’s version (version of record) of your article via the RUG institutional repository Pure six months after publication.
  Note: Research funders such as NWO, ZonMW, and European research funding projects do not permit this. Please contact the Medical Library Open Access Desk to check if the or the Rights Retention Strategy is an option.

For more information about your options, please contact us at openaccess@umcg.nl 

Soon, the caps on open access agreements with several publishers will be reached. If you’d like to receive a personal notification when a deal’s cap is reached, sign up for the ‘notify-me service’ provided by Leiden University.

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