Open Access

The term Open Access signifies the free access to academic literature and other materials in the web. The publication of an academic document under open access conditions provides anyone with the permission to read, download, store, link and print a document and thus to make use of it free of charges. In addition, to users may be accorded further usage rights by free licences ^de which may enable the free subsequent and continued usage as well as the reproduction, dissemination but also the amendment of such documents.

With regard to open access publications, there are two ways: the green and the golden one. The Golden Way signifies the immediate free availability of the primary publication. The contents may be published either in an Open Access journal, an Open Access monograph or in a freely accessible conference publication. The Green Way of Open Access enables the secondary release of a publication resp. articles already published without access restrictions. For making use of the so-called self-archiving way within an institutional or subject-oriented repository, you have to be the holder of the required rights.

Within the frame of transformation agreements with publishers, chargeable publications may be published Open Access at the same time (Hybrid Publication).