Frontiers and the German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED) have announced the launch of the first transformed framework agreement - a national, fully open access flat-fee deal - for Germany. This landmark agreement is an innovative initiative designed to champion open access to scientific research, and to provide long term budget security for institutions.
Under this agreement, and through a single annual payment from each participating institution, more than 900 German research centers and libraries will be enabled to support their affiliated researchers to publish an unlimited number of peer-reviewed articles across all Frontiers journals and Frontiers’ partner journals. The agreement is Frontiers’ first flat-fee agreement in Europe and will run for three years starting in January 2024.
The deal, which has been established through the fruitful collaboration, trust, and shared vision of the negotiating partners, will significantly increase German researchers’ opportunities to publish their research in high-quality open access journals. All public and private research institutions in Germany as well as state, regional, and specialist libraries can opt-in to the agreement. German institutions already taking part in Frontiers’ institutional partnership program may also opt-in to benefit from the deal.
Participating institutions will be offered the option of choosing between joining the flat-fee model or receiving a 10% discount on article publishing charges. Institutions wishing to benefit from the flat-fee can opt-in until mid-December 2024 (to start their participation at the beginning of the next quarter). Institutions choosing to receive the discount on article-based charges can opt in at any time.
The agreement is part of an ongoing flat-fee pilot project which in recent months has yielded new agreements in North America, with the University of California and the University of Kansas. Created in collaboration with the partners, this flat-fee model is a natural progression in the global transition to open access and, besides cost predictability, will contribute to improved transparency, further reduced administrative efforts, and assured support for authors.
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