About Open Access
Open access (OA) refers to the principle that scientific literature should be freely and publicly available online, without cost or restrictions. This allows anyone—researchers, students, or the general public—to read, download, copy, distribute, share, print, search, or link to full texts, and use them in any lawful way, without financial, legal, or technical barriers—apart from those inherent to internet access.
The Max Planck Society (MPG) fosters open access and strives to bring its research results openly online. As an early advocate for open access to scholarly knowledge, the MPG was among the first signatories of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities. The Institute is a strong supporter of open access. Since 2020, over 30 percent of its research outputs have been published through gold open access, increasing to 40 percent when green and bronze open access publications are included. The MPIWG Library provides guidance to all MPIWG scholars on open access and funding, as well as on publishing contracts, copyright clearance, and image rights.
Open Access FAQs
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Why Publish Open Access?
Publishing open access makes research freely available to scholars, practitioners, and the public worldwide. It increases visibility, often leads to more citations and collaboration, and ensures that publicly funded research can be shared and built upon for the common good.
Source: Strauß, H. (2021). 10 Gründe für Open Access. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7575092 -
Different Pathways to Open Access
Image amended to include the diamond pathway to OA (Niclas Look, 2025).
Gold Open Access
Gold Open Access refers to the model where the final version of a work—whether an article or a book—is made immediately and freely available online by the publisher. There are no access fees for readers, and reuse is typically governed by Creative Commons licenses, of which CC BY is more or less the standard and is also the one preferred or even required by many research funders. This model is common in peer-reviewed OA journals and increasingly in OA books. Gold OA often relies on Article Processing Charges (APCs) or Book Processing Charges (BPCs), which can vary widely. However, some forms of OA under this model do not involve APCs: diamond or platinum OA works, for example, are funded through institutional support, donations, or scholarly societies rather than author fees.
Green Open Access
Green OA, also known as self-archiving, involves making a version of a publisher-handled work publicly accessible in a repository—such as an institutional archive. In some cases, authors also share works on personal websites. Self-archiving can apply to preprints, post-prints (peer-reviewed manuscripts), and other document types, including monographs, research reports, and conference proceedings. It can occur simultaneously with publication or after a delay, depending on publisher policies. Most publishers allow self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version after an embargo period, typically 6 to 12 months. Green OA aligns with the open access requirements of major funding bodies such as the NIH, DFG, and EU, and repositories (e.g. MPG.PuRe) help to increase visibility and access to the work. To check the open access policies and compliance of journals, publishers, and funders, consult Jisc (formerly Sherpa).
The Secondary Publication Right in Germany: Under German copyright law, the secondary publication right allows authors to make their work publicly available online (e.g., in a repository), 12 months after initial publication, even if they previously granted the publisher exclusive rights of use. This right applies only if the contribution was created within the scope of publicly funded research, and it specifically covers the accepted manuscript version (the final peer-reviewed version before the publisher’s formatting and layout). Authors are not required to exercise this right, and if they choose to do so, the work may not be shared under an open license. This provision is outlined in Section 38 of the German Copyright Act (Urheberrechtsgesetz).
Bronze Open Access
Bronze OA refers to journal articles that are freely available to read on a publisher’s website, but lack an open license, such as CC BY, that enables reuse, redistribution, or long-term archiving. Open access may be temporary or subject to change, making it less stable than all other permanent forms of open access.
Diamond Open Access
Diamond OA, sometimes known as Platinum OA, is defined by its non-commercial, community-led publishing model, in which scholarly content is freely accessible to readers, issued with a CC BY open license, and free for authors to publish—no Article Processing Charges (APCs) are involved. These publication venues are typically owned and managed by academic communities, institutions, or consortia, fostering shared ownership, transparency, and accountability. Diamond OA relies on institutional funding, public subsidies, volunteer contributions, or support from scholarly societies, rather than profit-driven business models.
Hybrid Open Access
In hybrid journals, some articles in an issue are made open access, while others remain behind a paywall. This model allows authors to make individual articles open access in otherwise subscription-based journals. The costs are typically covered by the authors themselves or through institutional agreements.
In Germany, the DEAL Consortium, to which the MPG subscribes, supports hybrid open access by negotiating agreements with major publishers (e.g., Wiley, Springer Nature) that cover both reading access and publishing fees. DEAL aims to prevent “double-dipping” (in which institutions pay both subscription fees and open access APCs) by integrating these costs into a single transformative agreement. These agreements are intended as a transitional step toward full open access (“flipping”).
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How Does the Max Planck Society Support Open Access
The Max Planck Society is a founding member of the international open access movement, having signed the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities in 2003. This landmark declaration initiated a global effort to enable free access to scientific information. Today, more than 800 institutions worldwide have joined the movement, supporting free access to scholarly publications and data.
The MPG actively promotes open access publishing among its researchers and advocates for the recognition of open access publications in promotion and tenure assessments. It also values contributions to open access infrastructure—such as software development, content provision, metadata creation—as being essential to the future of scholarly communication.
The MPG is committed to advancing solutions that support the ongoing development of legal and financial frameworks to ensure the optimal and sustainable use of knowledge.
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Transformational Agreements
A transformational agreement is a type of publishing agreement between research institutions (universities or research organizations) and publishers. Its goal is to shift from subscription-based access to OA publishing. These agreements typically cover reading access and publishing rights (without paying article processing charges (APCs).
The MPG has long been a leading participant in transformational agreements. Through the Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL), the MPG has signed several such agreements with major publishers such as Elsevier, Springer Nature, and Wiley. These agreements allow MPG-affiliated authors to publish open access in many journals without individual payment, while maintaining access to subscription content.
More information on the MPG’s open access policies and its agreements with publishers, including the DEAL Consortium, can be found here.
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Open Access Funding at the MPG and MPIWG
The MPG and MPIWG have a number of arrangements in place to support the open access publications of Max Planck authors. This is regulated by the Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL) who provide detailed information here.
The MPG covers APCs for selected journals (see the MPDL’s journal finder); it also has discount agreements with various book publishers.
In individual cases, your research unit may be able to cover your APC or BPC. Contact your research unit leader for more information. Limited funding is also available from the Library (please submit this application form).
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Current Information on Open Access
The open-access.net platform provides comprehensive information and practical guidance on open access in both English and German. The platform offers a wide array of training and networking opportunities, along with a useful glossary that briefly explains key open access terms.
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How to Find Open Access Publications
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Images in Open Access Publications
Under German copyright law (Urheberrechtsgesetz), an image enters the public domain (Gemeinfreiheit) 70 years after the death of the creator (UrhG §51), or as soon as it is given the Creative Commons 0 designation. It is legally required to acknowledge the original creator of copyrighted images, and their use almost always requires written permission from the copyright holder. When requesting permission, it is essential to provide the copyright holder with full details of the intended reuse, including any plans to publish the material in an open-access format.
Protected works may qualify as quotations (UrhG §51) in scholarly texts under certain circumstances, meaning that written permission from the copyright holder may not be needed. This does not necessarily mean that the image is freely useable. The same reuse conditions apply to other forms of creative works, such as literary, cinematographic, and musical works. If you intend to reuse images in a publication, on the website, or for promotional materials (such as posters or postcards), consult with your publication manager or write to permissions@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de as early as possible to see which steps need to be taken.
See the Library’s “Recommended Databases” page for an extensive list of image repositories, which include many sources for images in the public domain.
Images created with artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be copyrighted unless significant and creative post-AI human interventions are made. Current good practice recommendations for AI-generated image captions call for including the prompt, generator, date, and any further computer enhancement programs used. Legal and ethical questions regarding AI are continually being evaluated by publishers, and the publication managers can help with questions related to the inclusion of AI-generated images in publications.
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Licensing
Gold open access publications are typically given a Creative Commons license, which the MPG also encourages. Creative Commons licenses are a standardized way to transparently communicate under which conditions of attribution, commercialization, and adaptation a copyrighted work can be reused. Copyright holders may also opt to put their work in the public domain by designating the work as CC0. In the case of no Creative Commons license, all rights reserved must be assumed. Detailed explanations of Creative Commons licenses can be found here.
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Guidelines for Good Scientific Practice
- Statutes of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG, 2023)
- Rules of conduct for good scientific practice (MPG, 2021)
- Guidelines and Rules on a Responsible Approach to Freedom of Research and Research Risks (MPG, 2019)
Researchers at the Institute can find more detailed information and resources on the Publishing Your Research intranet page.