Open access book fund and Diamond open access fund closed

The UG’s Open Access Book Fund and Diamond Open Access Fund are now closed and it is no longer possible to submit applications. Both funds are discontinued until further notice. The funds were introduced as pilots within the framework of the UG’s Open Science Programme (2021-2023).

Please continue reading for additional information about the funds and for an overview of their usage statistics.

Open access book fund in a nutshell

The fund was launched in February 2022 and to support the publication of monographs or edited volumes by UG authors. Authors could apply for a maximum of €8,000 to support the open access publication of their books. The fund was initially supposed to run until August 2023 but, given its popularity, the budget ran out earlier than expected.

Statistics about the fund’s usage

In total, 66 applications were received, of which 47 were granted, 19 were rejected (due to ineligibility or lack of funding) or withdrawn by the applicants.

The fund was greatly popular with the humanities and social sciences disciplines:

Faculty of Arts (26 applications); Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences (9); Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society (8); Faculty of Law (5); Campus Fryslân (4); Faculty of Spatial Sciences (4); University College Groningen (3); Faculty of Philosophy (2); Faculty of Science and Engineering (2); University Library (2); UMCG (1).

Diamond open access fund

In May 2022, the University of Groningen launched a stimulus fund to support diamond open access initiatives by UG/UMCG researchers. The fund could be used to expand and improve existing initiatives (e.g. professionalizing or scaling-up a scholar-led journal, etc.) or to create new ones (e.g. setting up a new journal or flipping an existing journal to diamond open access).

The fund made available a total of €60,000 to be awarded over the course of 1.5 years (until August 2023). Eligible initiatives could apply for a one-off contribution. The indicative maximum contribution that could be requested was €5,000 per application.

Statistics about the fund’s usage

In total, 10 applications were received all of which were granted but one. This fund too was greatly popular with the humanities and social sciences disciplines:

Faculty of Arts (6 applications); Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences (1); University College Groningen (1); Faculty of Philosophy (1); UMCG (1).