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RESEARCH
Open Access
Karger Open Access empowers researchers, policy makers and others to easily read and share trusted, peer-reviewed articles in health sciences, facilitating a rapid and impactful exchange of knowledge in these communities.
We are Open for Open
Karger Publishers is dedicated to accelerating a sustainable transition to Open Access, building on the power of Open Science to maximize effective, efficient, and open scholarly communications. Find out how we can help Open Access work for you.
For an even quicker overview of Open Access topics, refer to our handy explainer.
Types of Open Access & Licenses, Copyright and Costs
Learn more about different types of Open Access, Open Access licenses and policies, and more.
Publish & Access - Transformative Agreements
See if you may be eligible for coverage of Open Access publishing costs through your institution or a research funder.
PACS - Publish · Access · Curate · Services
Libraries, research institutions and funders, government health agencies and other organizations can learn about Karger’s Publish-and-Access agreements and various services supporting Open Access.
Transformative Journals – Transforming to Open Access
Discover our Transformative Journals and how they’re helping the community fast-track to Open Access.
Submit and Publish Open Access
Whether your journal of choice is Gold Open Access, Transformative, or a standard hybrid Open Access journal, it’s easy to publish your research as Open Access with Karger.
FAQs for Researchers, Institutions and Funders
Find answers to commonly raised questions about Open Access at Karger.
Subscribe to Open (S2O)
An alternative, fair and sustainable approach to Open Access.
Advantages of Open Access
Open
- Gold OA articles are immediately, permanently free for anyone, anywhere to read, share and re-use
- Sustained via an Article Processing Charge (APC) paid by an institution, research funder or author
- Waivers and discounts available for authors without means
Trusted
- Authors retain copyright
- Peer reviewed
- Held to the same rigorous ethical and quality standards as all Karger Journals
- Member of Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
Visible
- Indexed in major indices and databases, including PubMed and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
- Heightened visibility, speed of dissemination and impact
- Karger supports Green OA via self-archiving
Members/Sponsors
Karger is a member/sponsor of the following organizations, which enforce high quality and ethical standards for Open Access publishing:
FAQs
Find answers to commonly raised questions about Open Access at Karger. If your question is not answered here, please do not hesitate to ask our specialists.
Researchers
Is there a difference in quality between Open Access and subscription articles?
No: Karger Open Access articles are published to the same quality standards as articles in subscription journals. They are subject to the same rigorous peer review and standards for ethics and integrity as every Karger article. Similarly, they are evaluated according to the same standards as subscription articles before inclusion in PubMed, PubMed Central and other indexes.
Why publish Open Access?
Open Access has been attributed to increased citation rates and generally increased visibility and impact. Open Access articles are easy to share with colleagues as well as on social media. Moreover, Open Access reduces barriers to essential knowledge around the world, contributing to a more equitable exchange of information with wide-reaching benefits.
Are Open Access articles in PubMed and other indexes?
Open Access journals and articles may be indexed in the same databases as subscription journals. Many are indexed in PubMed, Medline, PubMed Central, Scopus and elsewhere. Each journal homepage lists the indexes and databases in which it is listed.
Gold Open Access journals are also indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
Gold Open Access journals are also indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
Is Open Access only online?
Most Gold Open Access journals are published online only, although they may additionally be printed. Hybrid Open Access journals, whereby individual articles can be published as Open Access in subscription journals, are generally published in print as well as digitally.
Which journals are compliant with my funding mandate?
Every Karger journal is compliant with virtually all funding mandates. Please find more details in each journal’s guidelines. Authors will be prompted to give information on their funding during submission.
Does my university or research institution have an agreement with Karger?
All institutions with which Karger has an agreement covering Article Processing Charges (APCs) are listed on the Transformative Agreements page.
What is a Creative Commons (CC) license? What’s the difference between Gold and Green Open Access?
Open Access can seem complex and has its own lexicon. We aim to demystify the essentials on the Types of Open Access & Licenses, Copyright and Costs page.
Institutions
What is an Open Access agreement and what are the benefits?
Publish and Access agreements, sometimes also referred to as Transformative Agreements, provide institutions with access to subscription-based content as well as arrangements for publishing Open Access articles.
Benefits for institutions include advancing their goals for an Open Access transition in a cost-effective way and raising the profile of their authors and institutions. Authors in turn benefit from a clear, simple process for OA publication without prohibitive costs and can increase the impact of their work.
Benefits for institutions include advancing their goals for an Open Access transition in a cost-effective way and raising the profile of their authors and institutions. Authors in turn benefit from a clear, simple process for OA publication without prohibitive costs and can increase the impact of their work.
What do Publish and Access agreements include?
Publish and Access agreements include access to subscription content and, optionally, to backfiles or other features as well. In addition, they enable OA publishing for the institutions’ authors in hybrid OA journals, Transformative Journals and Karger’s growing number of fully OA Gold Open Access journals.
How can institutions secure a Publish and Access agreement?
Institutions can contact Karger Publishers, which works closely with institutions to develop flexible, innovative Publish and Access agreements that meet their individual needs.
How do authors take advantage of their institutions’ Open Access agreements?
The steps for identifying institutions’ Open Access benefits and claiming APC coverage from an agreement are clearly indicated, helping make it unlikely that authors can miss this step during submission. Karger Publishers’ specialists help authors if any questions arise.
What is Karger doing to advance the transition to Open Access?
Karger is open for Open! Karger embraces Open Science and Open Access and is working with stakeholders to accelerate a sustainable transition to OA.
Some related activities include Publish and Access agreements, APC vouchers, “flipping” (converting) subscription journals to OA, launching new OA journals, OA books and Partner Publication OA journals developed together with research-supporting organizations. Karger is also a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and supports authors from low-income countries with a waiver and discount program.
More information can be found in the Karger Newsroom. Institutions may also be interested to read about Karger’s ‘Open for Open’ efforts in the guest blog post from OASPA’s 2020 conference.
Some related activities include Publish and Access agreements, APC vouchers, “flipping” (converting) subscription journals to OA, launching new OA journals, OA books and Partner Publication OA journals developed together with research-supporting organizations. Karger is also a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and supports authors from low-income countries with a waiver and discount program.
More information can be found in the Karger Newsroom. Institutions may also be interested to read about Karger’s ‘Open for Open’ efforts in the guest blog post from OASPA’s 2020 conference.
Under what conditions can metadata be used?
Metadata is freely available on the Karger website. It can be used under the terms of the Creative Commons license CC0, meaning no rights are reserved and the metadata is fully in the public domain. Kindly note that CC0 applies to metadata but not to journal and book abstracts.
Funders
Do Karger articles comply with my organization’s Open Access mandate?
Yes! Karger complies with every mandate from Plan S, NIH and virtually all other research-funding organizations. Authors are required to indicate their funding during submission and within their papers. Karger staff also provides guidance as needed to help authors fulfill their requirements.
What are Karger’s policies on preprints and open data?
The sharing of preprints is encouraged to accelerate the dissemination of important knowledge. Karger also strongly encourages the sharing of research datasets and provides explanations and instructions for authors in each journal’s guidelines.
How do funders benefit from facilitating Open Access?
Open Access enriches the possibilities for researchers, policy makers and the public alike to easily and quickly gain knowledge that can be built upon and make real positive contributions to society. It amounts to better returns on funders’ investments in research.
How does Karger support research funders?
Karger empowers authors to maximize the impact of their research through Open Access and Open Science and provides guidance and simple procedures for publishing and fulfilling mandates that free authors to focus on their work.
Moreover, vouchers and agreements for OA publishing, Partner Publications as a vehicle for disseminating research, and solutions to simplify the research process help funding organizations create the most impact from their investments.
Moreover, vouchers and agreements for OA publishing, Partner Publications as a vehicle for disseminating research, and solutions to simplify the research process help funding organizations create the most impact from their investments.
Contact
For all Open Access inquiries, please contact the Open Access team.
