Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
Wildhainweg 3
Postfach
CH-3001 Berne
Phone +41 31 308 22 22
E-mail oa@snf.ch
The SNSF only covers costs relating to publications in a Gold Open Access journals. The costs of publication in a peer-reviewed OA journal of recognised scientific quality (DOAJ, see link below) can be applied for even after the end of the project via the OA platform (mySNF). Applications can be submitted at any time but no more than six months after the publication of the article.
Directory of Open Access Journal (DOAJ)
The SNSF finances the publication of scientific books (monographs and anthologies) that are published via the Gold Road. It is possible to apply for a grant covering the book processing charges (BPCs) of books resulting from a project funded by the SNSF as well as books with no link to an SNSF project. The application has to be submitted via the OA platform (mySNF).
For monographs and anthologies, the SNSF awards a book processing charge (BPC) that covers the costs of publishing services with regard to quality control, book production and distribution. The maximum amounts of the different BPC modules are specified in Article 11 of the Regulations on the funding of Open Access publications.
Open Access book publications
The SNSF awards so-called book chapter processing charges (BCPCs) to cover the publication costs of chapters in an OA anthology. The chapters must be peer-reviewed and published in an anthology that was put together by an editor or an editorial team. The SNSF only awards BCPCs for book chapters that appear in an anthology that is freely accessible in its entirety (Gold OA). During the transition period between 1 October 2018 and 31 December 2019, BCPCs may be requested even if the book chapter is published in an anthology that is not openly accessible immediately without any restrictions or charges. Applications have to be submitted via the OA platform (mySNF).
The SNSF does not cover the following costs:
Processing charges are paid by authors wishing to publish their work in Open Access. They cover publishing services with regard to quality control, editing, publishing and digital archiving. Processing charges are imposed when publishing articles (article processing charges), books (book processing charges) or book chapters (book chapter processing charges). The SNSF only covers processing charges for Gold OA, i.e. for publications that are openly accessible in their entirety without delay. It does not cover APCs imposed for hybrid Open Access publications because it would involve double payment for the same service (subscription plus processing charges). Processing charges can be paid for by the authors, the author’s institution or another funder. Paying a processing charge does not mean that the authors retain the copyright to their work or that the latter has been made available under a Creative Commons licence.
The “hybrid” Open Access approach is a model where researchers publish in a subscription journal but pay an additional processing charge to release their publication for Open Access. The SNSF does not cover this type of publication cost because access to the scientific results is paid for twice (“double dipping”). However, the SNSF’s Open Access requirement is met by adopting this approach.
Many publishers agree to the self-archiving of publications (about 90%). The embargo periods differ from publisher to publisher. They may vary from the complete absence of an embargo period to a five-year embargo (in rare cases). The OA requirements of the SNSF are met if articles are self-archived after up to six months, and books/book chapters after up to twelve months (Green OA). An overview of publishers’ practices may be found on the SHERPA/RoMEO website.
The SNSF considers open access to publicly funded publications a mandatory requirement. For this reason, it requires all publications resulting from SNSF funding to be openly accessible. Authors who want to publish the results of an SNSF project cannot choose publishers that do not allow publishing according to the flexible OA regulations of the SNSF.
The SNSF accepts a maximum embargo period of six months for OA publication of articles and twelve months for books and book chapters. We recommend that authors get in touch with publishers to ensure that these embargo periods are respected and the conditions for Green OA are met. The SNSF will explain the various options to researchers in the context of its OA 2020 Policy.
Researchers are free to make their own choices in respect of their scientific publications. In its OA requirements, the SNSF has simply set out some basic rules regarding the publication of results from SNSF projects. Choosing a suitable format and publisher remains the responsibility of the researchers. As publishing the world over is evolving towards Open Access, more options to publish in agreement with the OA requirements of the SNSF are available. The SNSF, in collaboration with partners in Switzerland and abroad, is actively supporting this development.
The SNSF wishes to honour the principle that research results that were funded through public money should be openly accessible; for this reason it can no longer make any exceptions with regard to the OA publication of articles. If a book or book chapter faces disproportionately high charges due to image rights, the Open Access commitment may be waived upon request.
The publisher version (published PDF) or the accepted manuscript after peer-reviewing (post-print) should be stored in the repository for self-archiving. The archived version must match the version published by the publisher in terms of its content; other aspects such as layout may be different.
Grantees of the SNSF are advised to consider the details of the OA requirements of the SNSF before agreeing to work with a publisher. The SNSF monitors compliance with its OA regulations and publishes the OA status of all publications resulting from its funding in the P3 database (project level). As of 2020, the SNSF may take further measures if its OA rules are not respected.
If a copyright convention has been concluded with a publisher, its terms should be complied with. However, the SNSF expects these publications to be self-archived in an institutional or disciplinary repository, usually after an embargo period of up to six months for articles and up to twelve months for books and book chapters. Longer embargo periods are not in line with the OA rules. All published articles have to meet the OA requirements; exceptions are only made in the case of books that face disproportionately high costs for image rights. If there are no agreements on copyright, scientific works can be archived in a repository three months after publication (Article 382, paragraph 3 Code of Obligations). An overview of the standard practices of publishers is available on the Sherpa/RoMEO website.
Researchers may consult the “Directory of Open Access Journals” website, DOAJ, which is a community-curated online directory of high-quality, Open Access, peer-reviewed journals.
Directory of Open Access Journal (DOAJ)
Researchers may consult the “Directory of Open Access Repositories” website, OpenDOAR, which is a registry of academic Open Access repositories. All information in the directory is manually checked. The result of this analysis is a list of quality-controlled repositories.
Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR)
Making a publication available on platforms such as ResearchGate or Academia does not meet the SNSF Open Access criteria because the compulsory registration required inhibits Open Access and introduces an economic model based on the sale of users’ data, which the SNSF does not support. It should also be stressed that making a publication accessible on the author’s own website does not meet the SNSF Open Access criteria because long-term access is not guaranteed.
Self-archiving is usually free of charge. Any costs associated with self-archiving publications in an institutional or disciplinary repository (“Green Road”) are not, however, funded by the SNSF.
Researchers must enter output data regarding SNSF-funded research results. The SNSF expects that publications are openly accessible and checks the indicated links regularly. Based on the collected data, a regular OA monitoring at project level takes place. Researchers are given the opportunity to update their data before this information is published on the P3 database of the SNSF.
According to the adapted Open Access provisions in the General Implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations, which entered into force on 1 April 2018, the OA requirements apply to all scientific works published in journals and books (i.e. monographs, anthologies, book chapters) that were fully or partially financed by SNSF grants. Full or partial financing by the SNSF refers to the research on which the reported results are based, or the direct funding of a publication. The commitment to make publications openly accessible applies regardless of whether the SNSF awards a grant for the OA publication. If the research is co-funded, the OA commitment shall apply if the SNSF provided 50% or more of the funding.
The Green Road of Open Access must be respected with regard to all publications that are the result of SNSF grants that were awarded before the adapted Open Access provisions in the General Implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations entered into force. For such publications, no supplementary funding for the purpose of Gold Open Access publication can be requested. Contributions to book publications are subject to transitional provisions: since 1 January 2016, grants for publications have had to be included in SNSF grants (integrated publication grants). Thanks to the transitional provisions, it is still possible to request integrated publication grants; but as of now there is the attractive alternative of benefiting from the higher rates for book publications via the Gold Road.
General implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations (PDF)
The Swiss legal system recognises the freedom to publish. Authors are free to decide where they wish to publish the results of their research. When research is funded by public money, there is a public interest in transparency and free access to the publication. SNSF grantees must therefore make their publications publicly and freely accessible in electronic form (Open Access requirements). This commitment is met when a scientific work is published via the Gold Road. The SNSF also accepts publication via the Green Road.
The copyright of scientific works is governed by the Federal Copyright Act (CopA, currently being revised). This Act as well as the law on publisher agreements based on the Code of Obligations define how copyright is transferred from the authors to the publishers that publish the scientific works. The provisions of the publisher agreement and the general conditions agreed between the parties to the contract define the rights that are actually transferred to the publisher as well as the conditions and rules governing the transfer. Specific licences and copyrights are concerned here. Unfortunately a number of publishing practices are in conflict with Open Access. The SNSF advises its grantees to reserve the right to Open Access in their dealings with publishers. The SNSF is campaigning for the recognition of the right to re-publish; this would enable authors to make publications that are the result of publicly funded research openly accessible in all cases.
General implementation regulations for the Funding Regulations (PDF)
Conference papers that have been peer-reviewed are regarded as book chapters. Book chapter processing charges (BCPCs) can be requested to cover publication costs. If a peer-reviewed conference anthology is planned, the costs can be covered by book processing charges (BPCs).
The SNSF does not award publication grants for special issues of journals and conference proceedings that have not been peer reviewed.
Open Access book publications
Predatory journals pose as scientific journals: they offer to publish articles in return for a fee, but they do not offer services with regard to quality control and editing as you would expect from a serious scientific journal. Such journals employ unethical business practices such as:
Publishing in predatory journals is highly problematic for a number of reasons. First, it can damage your own reputation or the reputation of your institution.
Second, articles that are published in predatory journals do not offer any added value to researchers and science. Their visibility is limited and they are hard to find because these journals are not indexed by known citation indexes and literature databases such as Scopus or Web of Science and because predatory journals do not guarantee long-term access to published articles. As a result, such articles are rarely cited or not at all, they have little impact in practice and could eventually be lost. The resources used to generate the article are thus wasted.
What’s more, such articles enter the public domain without the necessary quality control. All publications in such journals therefore endanger the credibility of publicly-funded research and contribute to a general distrust in scientific publications.
The SNSF advises researchers to carefully consider where they publish their work. In case of doubt, the SNSF recommends consulting sources such as the Directory of Open Access Journals or checklists such as Think Check Submit.
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
Wildhainweg 3
Postfach
CH-3001 Berne
Phone +41 31 308 22 22
E-mail oa@snf.ch