Open access publishing platform to be opened up to researchers at all German research institutions / “An initiative driven by the research community for the research community”

From this year onwards, the open access publishing platform Open Research Europe (ORE) will be supported by a consortium of research and funding organisations from eleven European countries. Until now, the platform has only been available to funding recipients under the EU Framework Programmes for Research. The expansion of its governance now enables all researchers working at German research institutions to use the platform free of charge, regardless of whether or not they are in receipt of project funding. The German partner in the consortium is the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). In its capacity as a self-governing organisation representing the research community, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is responsible for implementation at national level and for participation in the ORE Funders’ Group and the Executive Committee. 

Developed jointly by all participating organisations, the restructuring of the publishing infrastructure establishes modern standards for a culture of open research: ORE will be organised based on scholarly principles, and it will be developed independently and sustainably by research organisations themselves. Researchers can contribute not only as authors, but also as reviewers. ORE operates according to the publish-review-curate model, in which articles first undergo an integrity check and are then openly assessed by means of a peer review process. Articles that receive positive reviews are subsequently included in subject-specific collections. 

An openly verifiable peer review process strengthens scholarly communication while ensuring transparent quality assurance. Review activities can be cited and recognised as a contribution to the process of knowledge acquisition by research. Publishing processes are aligned with the needs of the research community, thereby avoiding problems associated with the commercial publishing system. This includes moving away from journal-based reputation towards assessment based on the content of individual publications and the assurance of high-quality processes at infrastructure level. Individual publications do not need to be financed through fees, thereby reducing barriers. As such, the platform also follows the EU Council Conclusions on “high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy and equitable scholarly publishing” (2023). 

All academic disciplines are to be actively involved in this restructuring and in shaping the future of the platform, and the ORE Scientific Advisory Board is to be newly constituted for this purpose. The Funders’ Group is responsible for the strategic orientation of the publishing infrastructure, while technical operations will be carried out in future by CERN, which has extensive experience of such infrastructures. The other ORE members are ANR and CNRS (France), the Ministry of University and Research (MUR, Italy), NWO (Netherlands), the Research Council of Norway (RCN), FWF (Austria), FCT (Portugal), ARIS (Slovenia), CSIC and FECYT (Spain), Sweden’s three research funding organisations, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and CERN itself. The European Commission is to act as a permanent observer and provide additional financial support. Outreach to subject-specific communities is jointly supported by CERN and OPERAS, the European research infrastructure for communication in humanities and the social sciences.

“Now that the platform is supported by a consortium of research funders and organisations, it has become an initiative driven by the research community for the research community,” says Dr. Heide Ahrens, Secretary General of the DFG. The new ORE platform is expected to be completed by autumn 2026, when submissions will be possible. “We hope our research communities in Germany will make use of this non-profit option and appreciate the benefits it offers,” says Ahrens. 

Further Information 

CERN press release(externer Link)

DFG Open Research Europe web page(interner Link)

Open Research Europe web page(externer Link)