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

Discounts on Open Access publication

Elsevier 100%	Corresponding authors, affiliated with the University of St.Gallen, who want to publish in an academic journal published by Elsevier can choose, once the article is accepted, the Option “Gold Open Access” at no additional cost. The Library recommends doing this, choosing a Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0. You should see a notification “"I do not have to pay an APC. ... the agreement between Elsevier and Swiss institutions will cover the APC." To benefit from this agreement, you have to select your affiliation with the University of St.Gallen during the process on the Elsevier platform. Excluded from this agreement are journals from Cell Press, The Lancet and various society owned journals published by Elsevier. This offer is valid for articles submitted from 01.01.2020 till 31.12.2023.
MDPI 25%	The Library of the University of St.Gallen 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 when submitting their articles. Once an article is accepted, authors will be invoiced directly by MDPI, with a discount of 25% on the current APCs. Further information can be found on MDPI’s IOAP page.
Springer 100%	Corresponding authors, affiliated with the University of St.Gallen, who want to publish Open Access in an academic journal published by Springer that is covered by the current agreement, can do so at no additional cost. The Library recommends doing this. To benefit from this agreement, you have to provide your affiliation with the University of St.Gallen during the final publication process on the Springer platform. This offer is valid for all articles editorially accepted for publication between 01.07.2020 an 31.12.2022. Additional charges (e.g. colour charges, offprints etc.) are not covered by this 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.