Open Access

In the framework of APPEAR project partners have to support free and permanent access to scientific publications. This means that Open Access is obligatory for scientific publications that result from APPEAR-funded projects or from findings thereof. APPEAR funds the publication of scientific findings gained during APPEAR projects in the Gold Open Access or Hybrid Open Access scheme. Publications according to Green Open Access are not eligible for funding. If a publication is not published according to the Gold or Hybrid Open Access schemes the Green Open Access is scheme is obligatory.

Open Access is not obligatory for publications that are intended for the dissemination of project-based content that is relevant in terms of development policy.

APPEAR funds the publication according to the Gold Open Access or Hybrid Open Access model.The following requirements must be fulfilled:

• The publication must be directly related to the APPEAR project or result from it.
• The author(s) or co-author(s) must be APPEAR project leader(s) or project team members.
• Articles according to Gold Open Access must be published in journals listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals or else it must be proven that all requirements according to the guidelines of the Directory of Open Access Journals are fulfilled.
• The final version of the funded publication should be licensed according to the CC BY licence of the Creative Commons copyright licences, or at least according to the CC BY-NC-ND licence.
• If you have not budgeted enough for Open Access publications, or if a publication can only be billed and published after the end of the project, a formal application for funding can be submitted to the APPEAR office. Billing must take place before the end of the current APPEAR phase on 30 November 2027. The application form is available on request from the APPEAR Office.
• A specimen copy of a printed publication must be sent to the APPEAR office.
• APPEAR must be mentioned in an acknowledgement as follows: APPEAR is a programme of the Austrian Development Cooperation. Furthermore, the logos of the Austrian Development Cooperation and APPEAR have to be used.

The following three Open Access models are acceptable for the publication of scientific content whereas only the Gold and Hybrid Open Access models are eligible for funding.

Gold Open Access

Publications according to Gold Open Access are published directly in an open access medium (see for example Directory of Open Access Journals). In this case the final version of the publication is freely accessible via the website of the medium. This model is eligible for funding.

Hybrid Open Access

The hybrid model means the publication in subscription-based journals by permitting the authors to make their publications available as Open Access by paying a fee. In this case the final version of the article is freely accessible via the website of the journal while other articles – even in the same issue of the journal – might only be accessible to subscribers (either individual or institutional subscribers, such as libraries of universities). This model is eligible for funding.

Green Open Access

This model ensures Open Access to publications of the final manuscript in a repository (self-archiving) of the author's choice. Open Access to the publication must be ensured within a maximum of twenty-four months. In case that the embargo period for publication of the final manuscript is longer an alternative medium of publication must be found. Information about embargo periods can be found here.

The Green Open Access model is not eligible for funding.

Licenses allow to define which usage and dissemination scenarios are permitted. Licensing therefore provides legal security both for authors and consumers.The final version of the funded publication should be licensed according to the CC BY licence of the Creative Commons copyright licences, or at least according to the CC BY-NC-ND licence. Applications for funding of articles in journals which do not state the licences or which do not license according to Creative Commons cannot be funded.

CC BY (Attribution)

This licence permits others to disseminate, remix and revise the work and build on it, also commercially, as long as the author of the original is named.

CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution – Non-commercial – No Derivative Works)

This licence only allows download and dissemination of the work with mentioning the authors of the work. Editing and commercial use are forbidden.

Details about creative common licences.

In order to guarantee that Open Access publications are freely accessible they must be stored in institutional or discipline-specific repositories as soon as they are published.

Institutional repositories are document servers which are accessible freely and free of charge via the internet and which are run by institutions (universities, libraries, etc.) and which archive the intellectual output of the institution in the form of digital objects (data, publications, etc.).

Discipline-specific repositories are document serves which are accessible freely and free of charge via the internet and which archive intellectual output in the form of digital objects (data, publications, etc.) in an inter-institutional and topic-specific or subject-specific way.

Directory of Open Access Repositories

Open access as defined by APPEAR follows the guidelines laid down in the 'Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities ' of 2003.Open Access means access to digital scientific content and information including scientific literature and data that is freely accessible, free of costs and permanent. The debate regarding free access to research results and publications from research that was publicly funded is constantly increasing. At the national and international level researchers are encouraged to make their research results and publications freely available.Since 2008 more than a thousand new journals per year have been registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOA). As early as in 2004 Open Access journals could be found among the top impact rankings, a trend that has been growing in recent years.