Knowledge for All - Open Access Declaration

Enacted by the University Governance of the University of Bamberg on 26 September 2011

What is Open Access?

Open access means that academic publications are made publically available online and may be used, copied, disseminated and cited without fees or other restrictions, as long as all copyright information is correctly indicated.

Official Stance of the University of Bamberg

The University of Bamberg has aligned itself with the principles of Open Access specified in the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.” In compliance with its mission statement, the provision to society and the broader academic community of open and unrestricted access to all knowledge and data gained and produced at the university is firmly rooted in the university’s conceptual identity.

In addition to this societal and academic responsibility, open access publishing increases the visibility of research findings and highlights the university’s formidable productivity. Therefore, the University of Bamberg endorses publication in open access journals, on the university’s publication server and via the university’s own publishing company, the University of Bamberg Press.

University governance encourages scholars at the University of Bamberg to publish in open access journals and to actively support these same publications as peer reviewers and editors. A central open access fund provides financial aid to help cover the costs of publishing in quality-assured open access journals.

University governance requests that scholars at the university publish their articles and research results on the university’s publication server as original work or pre- or postprints. It also encourages scholars not to grant exclusive usage rights for electronic versions of their work, and in so doing to retain the right of disposition. The University of Bamberg strives to ensure that the publication server provides the most complete access possible to scholarly publications originating in Bamberg.

University governance appeals to all persons affiliated with the university to support the notion of open access and to contribute to the establishment of enduring and reliable structures for the advancement of open access at the University of Bamberg.

Further Information

The University Library and the university’s Research Aid and Transfer Division provide information on open access possibilities and advise members of the university on open access publishing, on funding opportunities and on open access considerations pertaining to research projects.

University Library

Research Aid and Transfer Division