Open Access

Open Access refers to the free access to scientific publications via the Internet. Open Access is supported by scientific organisations, universities and libraries around the world. The aims of these efforts are:

fast, worldwide dissemination of scientific information
free access to the results of publicly funded research
increased visibility and citation frequency of documents
simplified reusage for further research
promotion of interdisciplinary and international cooperation
long-term availability of documents

If you are interested in publishing the results of your research Open Access, we offer several services for you.

What is Open Access?

There are currently two major paths to Open Access:

Green Open Access: Self-archiving or secondary publication of conventionally published articles on subject-specific or institutional servers. At the University of St.Gallen, the Institutional Repository Alexandria is available for this.

Gold Open Access: Original publication of scientific articles in quality assured (peer reviewed) Open Access journals

In 2006, major Swiss scientific organizations, including the University of St. Gallen, signed the Berlin Declaration. Starting 2007, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is obliging grant recipients to publish their research results Open Access. The University of St.Gallen has established its Open Access Policy in 2007 as well.

In 2017 and 2018, swissuniversities and the SNSF adopted a national Open Access strategy for Switzerland and a corresponding action plan with the aim that by 2024 "all publicly funded scientific publications must be freely accessible on the Internet”.

Additional information

Institutional Repository Alexandria
Swissuniversities Open Access
SNSF

Open Access Journals

Open Access journals cover the same range of subjects and can provide quality as conventional publications. Special features are:

The digital publication has priority over the printed form.
The articles are freely accessible on the Internet from the time of their publication (no embargo period for the latest issues).
The publication costs are covered by alternative financing models instead of subscription or license fees.
Around a quarter of OA journals require the payment of publication fees (pre-financing model).

Additional information

Directory of Open Access Journals DOAJ

Predatory Journals / Publishers

When selecting a suitable journal or publisher for Open Access publication, authors should exercise a certain degree of caution. Predatory Publishers or Journals promise that, like reputable publishers, they will offer services as peer review, marketing or indexing in relevant databases or indices in return for an Article Processing Charge. However, these services are either offered in inferior quality or not at all. These unethical business practices not only damage the scientific publication landscape but can also have an impact on the reputation of authors who publish in such Predatory Journals.

Potential warning signs that may indicate a Predatory Journal:

The website of the journal looks unprofessional, e.g. bad layout, advertising etc.
Journal has no ISSN (International Standard Serial Number, unique identifier, equivalent to ISBN for books) or the given ISSN can’t be verified
No access to archives of previous published content
Editorial Board is not listed
Editorial Board is listed, but members can’t be found online
Missing information on author’s rights
Missing or very short Peer Review: immediate publication, lacking quality control etc.

When in doubt, these resources can be useful when selecting a journal for Open Access publication:

Journal is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals DOAJ
Journal is referenced in relevant subject databases or citation indices
Publisher is member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association OASPA or the Committee on Publication Ethics COPE
Think Check Submit offers further information

If you should have any questions, please reach out to us at openaccess@unisg.ch.

Discounts on Open Access publication

Cambridge University Press 100%	Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of St.Gallen can publish Open Acess at no additional cost in participating Cambridge University Press Journals.
Elsevier 100%	Corresponding authors affiliated with the University of can publish Open Acess at no additional cost in participating Elsevier Journals. Journals from Cell Press, The Lancet and various society owned journals published by Elsevier are excluded from the agreement. There is a cap on the annual number of eligible articles from all participating Swiss HEIs.*
MDPI 20%	The Library is part of MDPI's Institutional Open Access Program IOAP. To benefit from this agreement, authors must select their affiliation with the University of St.Gallen. Once an article is accepted, authors will be invoiced directly from MDPI, with a 20% discount on the current APCs.
SAGE 100%	Corresponding authors affiliated with the University can publish Open Access in participating SAGE Journals. The discount is 100% for Hybrid Open Access, 20% for Gold Open Access.
Springer 100%	Corresponding authors affiliated with the University can publish Open Acess at no additional cost in participating Springer Journals. Nature Journals are not covered by this. Additional charges (e.g. colour charges, offprints etc.) are also not covered. There is a cap on the annual number of eligible articles from all participating Swiss HEIs.*
Taylor & Francis 100%	Corresponding authors affiliated with the University can publish Open Access at no additional cost in participating Taylor & Francis Journals. Premier Tier 2 Journals are not covered by this agreement. The number of eligible articles in 2021 has been reached. Therefore, researchers interested in publishing Open Access as offered by the publisher must find funding for this on their own. As an alternative, you can look into Green Open Access options via Institutional Repository Alexandria. You can look up embargo periods of your journal on SHERPA/RoMEO.
Wiley 100%	Corresponding authors affiliated with the University can publish Open Access at no additional cost in participating Wiley Journals. This is offer is valid for articles that are accepted for publication after May 1st, 2021. There is a cap on the annual number of eligible articles from all participating Swiss HEIs.*
	* Publishers with an annual cap on the number of eligible articles: once the annual cap is reached, you can either provide the funding for the Open Access publication of an article in the journal yourself, or you can opt for Green Open Access publication in the institutional repository Alexandria, accoring to the rights you retained in your publishing agreement.

Institutional Repository Alexandria

The Institutional Repository of the University of St.Gallen is part of the Alexandria research platform. In addition to publications, Alexandria contains personal profiles and information on research projects at the HSG. All this research information is freely accessible worldwide and can also be found via various search engines (Google Scholar, BASE, Unpaywall).

The platform is a service of Vice-President's Board (Research & Faculty). It has been established in 2005 and is part of the implantation strategy of the University’s Open Access Policy.

Publications in Alexandria:

Articles from academic journals
Contributions from conference proceedings
Book chapters
Monographs
Other scientific contributions: Working papers, research reports, newspaper articles, radio or TV features

Researchers can enter information on their publications and projects directly in Alexandria and upload full texts. The information becomes accessible online to everyone immediately after it has been entered.

If you have any questions, please contact alexandria@unisg.ch

Open Access Policy of the University of St.Gallen

The Senate of the University of St.Gallen has adopted an Open Access Policy in 2007. This Policy is further substantiated in a Regulation on the Open Access Policy.

Further information

SHERPA/RoMEO - Online service collecting the policies of more than 22'000 academic journals on copyright and self-archiving.
Creative Commons - Information on the Creative Commons license system.
SPARC - Global initiative for the advancement of Open Science (Open Access, Open Data, Open Education) with in depth information on author rights.