The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) announced (Google translation) on October 13 that it would offer funding to universities to support OA author funds. Johannes Fournier of the foundation tells me by email:
The main idea behind the funding programme is that universities can apply for DFG-funding which the university then can spend in order to finance publications in true open access journals by researchers of the university. The reason that only the university as an institution (and not the individual researchers) can apply is that only institutions will be able to create sustainable structures for covering article processing charges. It will be important, though, that the structures universities are going to establish are a proper service to their researchers.
Of course, individual researchers will - as already is and was the case - still be able to use the publication lump-sums from their DFG-grants to cover publication charges.
Posted by
Gavin Baker at 10/19/2009 12:51:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
