Equal opportunities
“It is great to see that VU has been able to invest in fair and high-quality publication initiatives for a second time,” says Anne van den Maagdenberg, Open Access Librarian at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. “By focusing on initiatives created for and by the research community itself, we contribute to a publishing landscape where everyone has an equal opportunity to publish, regardless of whether or not they are affiliated with a wealthy university. Open publishing doesn’t have to be expensive: the list of initiatives shows that there are plenty of high-quality publishing options available where authors are not asked to pay.” The value that VU Amsterdam places on equal opportunities is further emphasized by its membership in the Knowledge Equity Network, a community of various institutions dedicated to the broad sharing of knowledge.
Innovative publishing methods
Among the initiatives supported by the fund are cross-disciplinary services, such as the Directory of Open Access Journals, which provides an overview of all high-quality fully Open Access journals. Discipline-specific preprint servers, such as PsyArxiv or BioRxiv, where you can share your research results directly and for free, are also supported. Additionally, the fund goes beyond just articles, supporting Open Access book publishers as well as modular platforms like ResearchEquals, where every ‘step’ of your research can be published. “All these platforms are excellent examples of places where you can publish openly, freely, and fairly.”
Increasing diversity
The list of supported initiatives has remained largely the same compared to 2023: “Ultimately, structural support is needed for these types of Diamond Open Access initiatives to ensure that their services remain sustainable and fair.” However, at the request of VU researchers, a few journals have been added, including Jeugd in Ontwikkeling and the Yearbook in Contextual Biblical Interpretation.
Read more about the fund and find an overview of the initiatives that are supported in 2024.
