Open Access Policy of the ifo Institute
Background
The ifo Institute is one of Europe's leading economic research institutes. In its five core areas of activity – economic research, promotion of young economists, policy advisory work, participation in the public debate and information/services – it helps to preserve and increase economic prosperity and social participation against a background of constantly changing framework conditions.
The research results of the ifo Institute are published in the relevant scientific journals as well as in (its own) journals and book series for the interested public. The aim is to contribute to policy advice and political debate and to offer services for science, business, the media, schools/education and the general public.
As a member of the Leibniz Association, the ifo Institute is committed to Open Access. It thereby adheres to the "Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities" and the "Open Access Policy of the Leibniz Association 2016-2020".
Recommendations and obligations
The ifo Institute encourages its academic staff to publish their research results in accordance with the principles of Open Access. At the ifo Institute, this is carried out as quickly as possible via publications in Open Access publication media and – within legal limitations – by making the publications accessible via document servers (repositories) either in parallel with publication or retroactively as soon as possible. For immediate Open Access publications, the institute recommends publishing under a free usage license (currently, e.g., Creative Commons Attribution).
In order to assure the option of parallel or retroactive Open Access publication, the academic staff of the ifo Institute are called upon not to grant exclusive rights of use to publishing companies when entering into a publishing contract, but instead – as far as is possible – to secure their own permanent right of use and transfer non-exclusive rights of use to the ifo Institute for the institutional and/or a subject-specific repository. This is the only means by which to secure Open Access use in addition to all forms of commercial use by publishing companies. If the right of use is not granted, the academic staff of the ifo Institute are requested to keep the so-called postprint version or to request it from the publisher in order to enable publication in accordance with section 38 (4) UrhG.
The ifo Institute advises its academic staff to also apply for third-party funding for Open Access publication fees when submitting project proposals.
The ifo Institute also views research data as a valuable result of its research activities. There will be a separate policy governing the handling of and access to research data at the ifo Institute.
Implementation
The ifo Institute promotes Open Access by:
- Offering its publications (journals, book series and working papers) free of charge via the ifo website (Docbase).
- Delivering its publications to the subject-specific document server RePEc for Open Access provision.
- Making its publications available to the public via EconStor and LeibnizOpen.
- Identifying publications by its academic staff that are legally eligible for Open Access and making them accessible via the ifo website (Docbase).
- Providing its academic staff with funding opportunities to meet publication fees for Open Access publication media.
- Informing its academic staff on Open Access and supporting them in clarifying issues concerning Open Access publication of their research results. For this purpose, the ifo Institute has created the post of an Open Access Manager.
Version: March 2019
