How can Specialised Information Services (FID) actively participate in the open-access transformation? A new guide provides a practical overview of participation options for FID in the consortial financing of open-access publications for the first time.
The publication, titled "Consortial Financing of Open-Access Publications. A Guide for Specialised Information Services", is the result of a joint workshop conducted by the Competence Center for the Licensing of Electronic Resources (KfL), the Sub-Working Group on Licensing of the FID Network, and the KOALA-AV project (Building, Expanding, and Anchoring Consortial Open-Access Solutions) in July 2025. It compiles central questions, experiences, and guidelines from practice and offers orientation for FID that want to participate in consortial open-access models or start their own initiatives.
The guide covers topics such as integrating consortial financing into FID applications, organizational procedures and workload, selection procedures for publications, and cooperation with publishers and consortial institutions. The goal is to simplify the structural integration of FIDs into the open-access funding landscape and strengthen their role in the transformation of scientific publishing.
The guide is freely available on Zenodo: Franz, S., & Stork, K. S. (2025): Konsortiale Finanzierung von Open-Access-Publikationen. Eine Handreichung für Fachinformationsdienste. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16944456