The University states in its Open Access Policy (only available in German) that 'open access publications are characterised by a high degree of accessibility and availability; they can be easily found using search engines and are highly visible. Presupposing the adherence to academic standards, these publications can be used by academics throughout the world, thereby strengthening international and cross-disciplinary collaboration.'
'Ultimately, the aim for all publications of the University is that they should be of the highest academic standards, whether they are open access or conventional publications,' said President Burkhard Freitag, adding that 'the principle of academic freedom also means that authors are free to choose their means publication'. The University's Open Access Policy therefore constitutes a recommendation rather than a requirement.
From a technical angle, the open access infrastructure – in the form of the OPUS document server and the Open Journal Systems software – will be embedded in the University Library. Library staff stand ready to advise academics interested in open access publication of their papers.
The Director of Library Services, Dr Steffen Wawra, explained: 'Academic journals are the most widely used means of publication. And this really is an area that lends itself to open access publication.' There are two ways to publish open access: The 'green' method is for authors to self-archive their work, which was previously published in a non-open access journal, in a repository. 'Gold' open access requires the authors to republish their work in an open access journal. The papers are instantly available following publication.
Please address your enquiries concerning this press release to Marius Sarmann (marius.sarmann@uni-passau.de) or Michael Zweier (michael.zweier@uni-passau.de).