Since October 13, 2025, the application form for funding publications in Open Access journals has been available in revised form
Researchers at the University of Stuttgart currently publish almost 70% of their publications as Open Access (data source: Web of Science; based on journal articles from 2024), with the University Library’s Open Access Team processing a large number of applications for article funding each year. Due to several OA agreements with publishers and current directories of recognized Open Access journals, it is often possible to determine in advance if publications in a particular journal are eligible for funding.
Therefore, the application form has been enhanced with automatic checking functions. Researchers can now receive feedback based on minimal information, such as the title of the journal in which they intend to publish, without having to fill out or submit the entire form. The new Journal Checker also checks if publication charges are already covered by an agreement in which case no application is necessary. This simplifies and accelerates the selection of an OA journal as well as the application process for researchers and relieves the OA team which is responsible for processing applications, among other things, against the background of constantly increasing OA publication numbers at our university.