Open Access Monitor (OAM)

The Open Access Monitor is a tool used to analyse data on the publication output of German scientific institutions and that provides support for the transformation to open access. Information from existing data sources is summarized, expanded, and made openly available.

The initial development of the Open Access Monitor was funded from 2018 to 2020 as part of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s ideas competition to promote the free flow of information in science within the project Synergies for Open Access – Open Access Monitoring – SynOA (FKZ 16OA018). Further funding was provided in the project OAM – Open Access Monitoring (FKZ 16OAMO001) from 1 September 2020 to 31 August 2023.

Since the end of funding, the Open Access Monitor has been operated and developed further by Forschungszentrum Jülich.

With the integration of OpenAlex as an additional data source for publication and citation data, a new option for data analyses has been available since the beginning of 2024. New filter options and a new analysis section for these criteria have been set up for data on research funding bodies and funded projects. A separate cost monitoring section provides an overview of data related to the monitoring of the DFG Open Access Publication Funding programme. These data come from the institutions that have consented to their data being passed on to the OAM. A data flow has been established between the Open Access Monitor, OpenAPC, and the monitoring of the DFG programme.

The next developments will focus on expanding the types of documents covered to incorporate other forms of publication in analyses, such as monographs, conference papers, and preprints, in addition to journal articles. In terms of cost monitoring, a tool will be developed that can be used to create information budgets.

OAM cooperates with the projects Transform2Open, openCost, open-access-network.de, and OpenAPC, among others. A link between the OAM and the LAS:eR electronic resource management system has already been established, with interfaces to other systems such as Alma and Folio in the pipeline. The OAM team develops and operates the Swiss Journal Monitor (OAM-CH) on behalf of umbrella organization swissuniversities. For the German Research Foundation (DFG), the OAM team monitors the Open Access Publication Funding programme on an ongoing basis.

• Transform2Open (cost monitoring, criteria, competencies, and processes of the open access transformation)
• openCost (automated, standardized delivery and open availability of publication costs and publishing agreements)
• open-access.network (competence and networking platform in the field of open access)
• OpenAPC (open data project on open access publishing charges)
• LAS:eR (electronic resource management system)
• swissuniversities
• Swiss Open Access Monitor – About
• Journal Monitor (OAM-CH)
• German Research Foundation (DF) – Funding – Open Access Publication Funding
• Central Library of FZJ (Internet) - Monitoring the DFG “Open Access Publication Funding” Programme

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