Open Access Policy

Wismar University of Applied Sciences: Technology, Business and Design is a high-performance, innovative, and recognised educational and research institution with a long-standing academic tradition. It is firmly anchored in the region and the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and is internationally oriented in its research and teaching.¹

As a publicly funded institution, Wismar University of Applied Sciences acknowledges its responsibility to inform the public about its teaching and research activities. Wismar University of Applied Sciences promotes the direct and rapid exchange of research results, without which innovative achievements are not possible. Business enterprises should be put in a position to be able to use the research results obtained at Wismar University of Applied Sciences in a timely and long-term manner. Based on its institutional self-image as a driver of education and innovation, Wismar University of Applied Sciences supports free digital access (Open Access) to scientific publications, as described in the Berlin Declaration of 2003. Accordingly, Open Access publications must meet the following requirements:

"The authors and the rights holders of such publications irrevocably grant all users the free worldwide right of access to such publications and authorise them to copy, use, distribute, transmit and publicly perform such publications, in any digital medium and for any responsible purpose, and to create and distribute adaptations thereof, provided that the authorship is properly acknowledged." ²

By opening up technical, financial, and legal barriers, Open Access helps dynamic scientific and economic innovation processes and increases the reach and citation frequency of research results. Networking is facilitated and the comprehensive verification of research results is made possible for all social groups and actors. As a quality-oriented service institution, Wismar University of Applied Sciences is committed to the goals of Open Science, Open Access, and Open Education.

In the medium and long term, it aims to support researchers in Open Access publishing. This includes setting up an appropriate technical infrastructure and advising on Open Access publication projects on funding options, applying for publication fees, legal issues, and the choice of publication organs. To this end, structures are developed, workflows are defined, and contact people are appointed. The explanations refer primarily to the publication of journal articles but also apply to the publication of anthologies and the publication of monographs and research data in the broader sense.

Wismar University of Applied Sciences encourages the publication of research results and scientific texts in a quality-assured Open Access format. Both the golden path (first publication in Open Access) and the green path (second publication in Open Access) are possible. The golden path, i.e., the immediate and permanent free availability of final versions of scientific publications at the original place of publication under an open license (CC BY), is to be preferred, following a recommendation by the German Science and Humanities Council (WR).³ University members are called upon to become involved as editors, reviewers, and publishers of quality-assured Open Access journals and to commit themselves to a progressive Open Access policy in publishing houses. The consideration of publication fees (APCs) in the acquisition of third-party funding is desired. With respect to the constitutionally protected freedom of research and teaching and the freedom to choose the means of publication derived from this, the calls are to be understood as recommendations for action.

This Open Access Policy was endorsed at the 8th meeting of the XIIth Senate on May 19, 2022.

^{1 Cf. Mission Statement of Wismar University of Applied Sciences (German only).
2 "Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities", 2003. Wismar University of Applied Sciences signed the Berlin Declaration on 20 December 2023.
3 Cf. German Science and Humanities Council (WR) (ed.): Recommendations on the Transformation of Academic Publishing. Towards Open Access, January 2022.}