Open Access News

According to the 2023 CWTS Leiden Ranking (Leiden University), the University Medical Center Groningen/ University of Groningen ranks 1st in the world in the area of open access, with 95% of publications being openly accessible in the period 2018-2021. 

In 2021, the UMCG introduced a open access procedural regulations (based on Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, also known as Taverne amendment), which resulted in a significant growth of the green open access share.

For the UMCG, this has been implemented by the Central Medical Library ‘Open Access’ and ‘Pure Institutional Repository’ teams. These regulations were were also implemented retroactively, resulting in virtually all short publications from previous years being opened up via the institutional repository.

Reading suggestions:

• Why is it that the UG ranks highest in terms of open access and what are the plans for the future? Giulia Trentacosti, tells you all about it.
• View the ranking
• UMCG/UG open access policy

In 2022, 98,5 % of UMCG peer-reviewed articles were open access - including gold (37%), hybrid (31%) and green (27%) open access. The share of open access publications remained stable from 2021, but rose significantly compared to previous years (80% in 2020, 72% in 2019, 56% in 2018).
The steep rise registered in the last two years is largely due to the implementation of the new open access procedure which resulted in a significant growth of the green open access share. Nevertheless, researchers are encouraged to explore gold and hybrid open access possibilities with priority.

The UG’s open access book fund is expected to run out soon. The fund was
very successful, with 56 applications received since the fund’s launch in
February 2022. The fund was greatly popular with the humanities and social
sciences disciplines.
The fund was initially supposed to run until August 2023,
but given its popularity, the budget is running out earlier than expected.
The continuation of the fund beyond August 2023 will be decided in the
upcoming months and is conditional on funding renewal by the UG. 
Authors who wish to apply for the fund are encouraged to do so as soon as
possible. We expect to be able to accommodate only a few more requests.

The fund in a nutshell
UG- and UMCG-affiliated authors can apply for a maximum of €8,000 to support the publication of their open access monographs or edited volumes. Applications are processed on a first come, first served basis.For any questions about the fund, please contact openaccess@umcg.nl.