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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”
Research and funding organisations from eleven European countries are joining forces to strengthen a fair culture of open science driven by the research community: together they are assuming responsibility for the open-access publishing platform Open Research Europe (ORE), which publishes research results free of charge and offers quality assurance and academic dialogue through an open review process. Originally launched by the European Commission in 2021, the digital platform was previously open exclusively to those in receipt of funding under EU Framework Programmes for Research. Under the new arrangements, researchers from all participating countries will be able to submit their results to the platform from this autumn onwards. The contractual partner on the German side is the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR); the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is responsible for implementing the initiative at national level while also contributing to the further development of the platform within the ORE Funders’ Group and on the Executive Committee. Participation is currently planned for an initial period of five years, until the end of 2030.
The aim of ORE is to make publicly funded research rapidly accessible and establish transparent quality assurance processes. “This participation in Open Research Europe aims to establish a novel infrastructure for scholarly publishing,” says DFG Secretary General Dr. Heide Ahrens. With Germany as a country-level member, researchers at all German institutions will in future be able to submit articles free of charge and have them assessed through an open review process, regardless of project-based funding.
“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 Ahrens. “We’re now entering a new chapter which will boost open access to scholarly publications, reduce barriers and improve research practice.” The other ORE members are from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The European Commission is to act as a permanent observer and provide targeted additional financial support.
Strengthening the sovereignty and independence of research
“ORE is an impressive example of the joint commitment to promoting the free flow of knowledge in the European Research Area and beyond,” says Dr. Silke Launert, Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMFTR. “By ensuring open access to high-quality research results and the transparency of the review process, it strengthens the dissemination of the latest findings and increases public trust in science and the humanities,” Launert continues.
The aim of ORE is also to address shortcomings associated with the traditional scholarly publishing system, including the fact that subscription models and open-access publishing can be costly and often result in inequalities. In addition, academic reputation is usually linked to bibliometric indicators – i.e. how much a researcher publishes and how often they are cited. Journal rankings typically play a role, too, as measured by the “impact factor” for example.
By contrast, ORE places the focus on the value and impact of individual publications themselves: since the review process is openly transparent, exchange within the research community becomes visible, helping to make both the scholarly content and the societal value of studies more clearly recognisable.
Technical implementation of the new phase of Open Research Europe is being carried out by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). CERN has previous experience of providing international open science infrastructures and jointly operated services; it runs Zenodo, for example – an online platform for research results. 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 Heide Ahrens.
Since its launch in 2021, the platform Open Research Europe has seen steady growth and increasing acceptance within the research community: it currently hosts more than 1,200 published articles by over 6,300 authors. In preparation for the new set-up, a comprehensive framework plan (Scoping Report) was published in 2024, outlining the vision for the new phase of ORE that is now under way. The initiative is also aligned with the Action Plan for Diamond Open Access adopted in 2022 by Science Europe, an association of European research funding organisations.
Further Information
CERN press release: https://home.cern/news/news/cern/cern-host-europes-flagship-open-access-publishi...
DFG Open Research Europe web page: https://www.dfg.de/de/grundlagen-themen/digitale-themen/open-access/ore
CERN Open Research Europe web page: https://ore.eu
Media contact:
DFG Press and Public Relations, Tel. +49 228 885-2109, presse@dfg.de
Programme contacts at the DFG Head Office:
Dr. Angela Holzer, Scientific Library Services and Information Systems, Tel. +49 228 885-2568. ore@dfg.de
Michael Geuenich, Scientific Library Services and Information Systems, Tel. +49 228 885-2009, ore@dfg.de
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/3603e219-6a65-11ef-a8ba...
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/3603e219-6a65-11ef-a8ba...
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