Open Access FAQ

How can I check whether a journal is eligible for funding?

First, make sure that the journal is a full open access journal, i.e. that it allows immediate and free access to all its articles online. Journals that only offer an open access option for individual articles (hybrid journals) are not eligible for funding.

To check whether a journal is a full open access journal, you can either consult the publisher’s website or check the Electronic Journals Library (EZB). Both, in the list of journals or the individual entry of an individual journal you will note a traffic-light system indicating its status:

A green light indicates that the journal is fully open access.
A yellow, yellow-red or red light means that the journal offers either none or only some open access articles.

Only journals with a green light are eligible for funding.

A journal I am interested in is not listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals – what does that mean?

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) only lists journals that are fully open access and that meet certain quality criteria and that sought inclusion into the DOAJ. A journal not being listed in the DOAJ can have several reasons:

The journal is not fully open access but a so called ‘hybrid journal,’ i.e. a subscription based journal that offers open access as an option for an additional charge.
The journal may be too new: it can take several month from the application to the DOAJ to the actual listing.
The publisher did not apply (yet) to have the journal listed in the DOAJ.
The journal or the publisher did not meet (or no longer meet) the quality criteria of the DOAJ.

That a journal be included in the DOAJ is not a requirement to receive funding. However, you must make sure that the journal meets the criteria laid out by the DFG (German Research Foundation) in order to receive funding by the publishing fund.

Are journals eligible for funding if they only offer open access as an additional service for individual articles?

A journal that immediately makes all its articles publicly available free of charge upon publication is fully open access. If, however, open access is offered only as an additional service for individual articles while the journal itself is otherwise subscription or license based, it is a so called ‘hybrid journal.’

For these journals, libraries would have to pay twice: once for the subscription and once for making an article open access. Therefore the DFG, who are partially supplying the TUM publication fund, have mandated that articles in hybrid journals must not be funded.

Could I cover the cost above the funding limit myself?

No, a partial funding of the cost is not possible. The funding limit must cover the actual cost of the publication – it cannot be augmented by other funds or grants. If the charges for an article cannot be covered in total, for example because they are above the maximum limit, the publication fund cannot provide any financial help for the publication. However, there always remains the possibility to contact the publisher regarding the costs.

The cap on the amount of funding available is an attempt to curb the price increases by the publishers. The DFG determines the limits for publication funds supported by them.

Do I have to pay for my article in advance?

No – that would actually cause problems, since the costs cannot be reimbursed due to tax reasons.

As soon as you receive the acceptance of the publication fund you can forward the invoice to access@ub.tum.de – the university library will then pay the publisher.

Where can I find information on a journal’s quality and how do I recognize predatory journals?

Unfortunately, there are a number of suspect journals and publishers out there and it is important to avoid those. It is, however, not always easy to recognize them. The following websites offer some orientation:

List of Predatory Publishers lists all publishers and journals known or suspected to be predatory.
Quality Open Access Market (QOAM) offers information on the quality of journals and allows its users to leave reviews.
ThinkCheckSubmit offers a helpful list of criteria for evaluating journals.
ThinkCheckAttend aims to guide and assist researchers when choosing trusted conferences to attend and to present their research at.

Many full open access journals are listed in the DOAJ. Any journal listed there can be safely assumed to be trustworthy since only journals meeting certain quality criteria are included. However, just because a journal is not included does not mean that it is predatory; it may be that the journal was established too recently or that the publisher has not asked to have the journal included in the list.

Do I have to submit the web form?

We would like to remove as many bureaucratic hurdles as possible for you when publishing an open access article. To that end, we have negotiated agreements with several publishers, making the web form and dealing with invoices unnecessary in these cases.

You can simply submit your article to these publishers and journals. We will then receive a notification and verify the information submitted. If all criteria of the funding guidelines are met, the payment is made by the publication fund directly. Please note that the agreement with the publisher does not automatically translate into receiving funding – there is no guarantee that the APC are below the maximum amount – except in case of Frontiers and MDPI.

In case of all other publishers and journals you should apply for funding via the web form before you submit your article. After we verify that all criteria are met, you will get a message either accepting or rejecting your application.

You are also welcome to fill-out the web form when an agreement with a publisher exists, for example, when you are uncertain whether all criteria (e.g. price) are actually met and you want us to check before you submit the article.

When should I send a funding request?

It is always advisable to apply for funding before you submit your paper. You will know before even submitting whether your application was accepted or rejected and whether the publisher might be predatory.

Could I apply for funding despite having left the TUM?

The decisive factor is whether the research the article is based on was done while at TUM. If you have written an article on research you did while at TUM and submit it to a journal after you have left, you are still eligible for funding. It is, however, a requirement that you name the TUM as the affiliated institution.

I do not fulfill the publication fund’s criteria for funding – do I still qualify for the publisher’s discount?

That depends on the publisher. At MDPI all TUM members do get the discount, even if the article is not eligible for funding by the publication fund. The same is not true for the other publishers; there the discount is locked to the publication fund.

What are the chances of receiving funding when applying?

At the moment we are fortunately able to fund all articles that meet the fund’s criteria.

What is the maximum number of articles / applications I am allowed submit in a given year?

At the moment there is no limitation.

Are there any other funding options for my publication?

On the platform open-access.net you can find further information for authors, amongst other things about funding options.

How can I check whether the article exceeds the funding limit?

Articles can only be funded by the publication fund if the total costs do not exceed € 2000 or US$ 2210 respectively, including VAT.

Please be advised that the costs quoted by publishers are usually without VAT (e.g. accompanied by phrases like “excl. taxes”). In these cases, you have to add 19% VAT to the price given. When, for example, the APCs are US$ 1,950, the actual total cost would be US$ 2,320.50 and would therefore be above the maximum amount of US$ 2,210.

In the case of journals that fall under one of the publishing agreements, you can probably deduct the discount before adding taxes. Journals published by Frontiers are an exception here: the APCs will be discounted to stay below the maximum threshold, no matter the asking price.