Open Access-Policy

The University of Innsbruck expressly supports open access publications and thus the free and sustainable approach to scientific knowledge. In this context, the Rectorate of the University of Innsbruck has agreed on an Open Access Policy and published it in the Newsletter (mitteilungsblatt) dated 1 March 2017.

Open Access Policy of the University of Innsbruck

The University of Innsbruck expressly supports open access publications and thus the free and sustainable approach to scientific knowledge. As a matter of social responsibility, open access facilitates the transfer of scientific findings into society. Furthermore, free access to scientific and scholarly publications enhances their visibility in the international scientific community and facilitates their long-term archiving and permanent citeability. For these reasons the University of Innsbruck signed theBerlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

To this effect, the University of Innsbruck expects its members (in accordance with the University Act of 2002 §94) to deposit already published publications in the institutional repository of the University of Innsbruck - Open Access, after expiration of the adequate waiting periods („green road“). Any new work should be first published directly in open access journals or in the form of open access monographs, if appropriate journals or series with quality assurance procedures (e.g. peer review) can be found („golden road“).

Therefore, the University of Innsbruck expressly recommends to its members to reserve the contractual rights to any form of use of the open access publication, like especially the rights of reproduction and making the publication available online.

Furthermore, the University of Innsbruck advises its members to also free the access to their research data.

The University of Innsbruck assists its members in the realization of these recommendations through relevant information and advice

• from the open access contact point at the Universitäts- and Landesbibliothek Tirol (University and State Library of Tyrol),
• the institutional repository of the Universitäts- and Landesbibliothek Tirol (https://diglib.uibk.ac.at),
• the university’s publisher innsbruck university press (iup),
• the infrastructure provided by the iup and the ZID (information technology services of the University of Innsbruck) for the publishing of open access journals,
• measures to provide research data,
• a publication fund to finance author charges that may accrue during the publication, as well as
• the change of journals published by members of the University of Innsbruck to open access. New establishments only receive financial support if published as open access journals with adequate quality assurance procedures.

Publications that were published through open access will from now on be specifically identified in the research documentation database.