Diamond Open Access (DOA) promises a world without paywalls: no subscriptions, no article fees, free publishing and free reading. At first glance, it looks like the fair and sustainable alternative to Gold and Hybrid OA. But behind the appealing vision lie tough questions.
On September 22, I had the honor of serving as a keynote panelist at the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) Conference. The panel addressed a crucial set of questions under the title “Who owns open knowledge? Who has the power and responsibility?”—issues at the very heart of scholarly communication and open science.
Das wissenschaftliche Publizieren befindet sich in einem tiefgreifenden Umbruch: Open Access, digitale Plattformen, alternative Publikationsmodelle und neue Formen der Forschungsbewertung verändern die Art und Weise, wie Wissen verbreitet, sichtbar und bewertet wird. Für Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen bringt das große Chancen, aber auch Unsicherheiten mit sich. Mit meiner Monographie „Wissenschaftliches Publizieren im Wandel.
Scholarly publishing is undergoing profound change. Open Access, new peer review models, digital platforms, and alternative evaluation metrics are transforming the dissemination and assessment of research. For early career researchers, this transformation offers great opportunities, but also uncertainty. With my book Scholarly Publishing in Transition.
Zertifikatskurs Wissenschaftliches Publizieren und Open Science : Kompetenzen für wissenschaftliches Publizieren und Open Science in der digitalen Forschungswelt Die Universität des Saarlandes bietet eine spezialisierte Online-Weiterbildung mit Zertifikatsabschluss (Universitätszertifikat „Wissenschaftliches Publizieren“ mit 10 CP) zum Thema „Wissenschaftliches Publizieren und Open
Am 26. Juni 2025 durfte ich an der Fachhochschule Münster über ein Thema sprechen, das vielen Wissenschaftler*innen unter den Nägeln brennt: Wie publiziere ich sinnvoll, sichtbar und nachhaltig? In meinem Vortrag „Publikationsstrategien für Wissenschaftler*innen“ ging es unter anderem um: Warum überhaupt publizieren? Zwischen Publish or Perish und echter Wissenschaftskommunikation: Reputation, Karrierewege
The data from the German Library Statistics (DBS) reveals a clear trend: while spending on Closed Access content in university libraries in Germany has remained relatively stable, investments in Open Access have surged dramatically. Please note that not all universities reported all values consistently, making it impossible to quantify the trends with complete precision. However, clear trends can still be identified.
This overview is based on Open Access data for publications from 2024 only, providing a snapshot rather than a trend analysis. The data include four document types—articles, Books, Book Chapters, and Reviews—to more accurately reflect disciplinary publishing cultures. Data was taken from OpenAlex on May 14, 2025.
Aiming to spot some Open Access trends in scholarly publishing 2015–2024, on May 13, I retrieved publication volume data—specifically article-level outputs, excluding other document types—from OpenAlex, focusing on Open Access (OA) publishing trends and their respective modalities. Here, I share a brief overview of the results.
After three exciting years, scidecode as a formal company will be discontinued. What began as a label for my freelance work in science consulting in 2012 turned into a collaborative GbR (civil-law partnership) in 2022 with Laura Rothfritz and Pablo de Castro. Our mission was to provide independent, collaborative consulting on open science, research information, and strategic questions around scholarly infrastructures.
Joachim Schöpfel, Niels-Oliver Walkowski and I are excited to announce the Open Divide Lecture Series (2025–2026), a year-long exploration of the challenges, contradictions, and evolving landscape of Open Access and scholarly publishing.