Pursuing transparency: How research performing organizations in Germany collect data on publication costs

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Strecker, Dorothea, Pampel, Heinz, Höfting, Jonas
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
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author Strecker, Dorothea
Pampel, Heinz
Höfting, Jonas
author_facet Strecker, Dorothea
Pampel, Heinz
Höfting, Jonas
contents This article presents the results of a survey conducted in 2024 among research performing organizations (RPOs) in Germany on how they collect data on publication costs. Of the 583 invitees, 258 (44.3%) completed the questionnaire. This survey is the first comprehensive study on the recording of publication costs at RPOs in Germany. The results show that the majority of surveyed RPOs recorded publication costs at least in part. However, procedures in this regard were often non-binding. Respondents' ratings of the reliability of the collection of data on publication costs varied by the source of publication funding. Eighty percent of respondents rated the contribution of collecting data on publication costs to shaping the open access transformation as "very important" or "important." Yet, these data were used as a basis for strategic decisions in only 59% of the surveyed RPOs. Moreover, most respondents considered the implementation of an information budget at their institutions by 2025 unlikely. We discuss the implications of these findings for the open access transformation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_08340
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Pursuing transparency: How research performing organizations in Germany collect data on publication costs
Strecker, Dorothea
Pampel, Heinz
Höfting, Jonas
Digital Libraries
This article presents the results of a survey conducted in 2024 among research performing organizations (RPOs) in Germany on how they collect data on publication costs. Of the 583 invitees, 258 (44.3%) completed the questionnaire. This survey is the first comprehensive study on the recording of publication costs at RPOs in Germany. The results show that the majority of surveyed RPOs recorded publication costs at least in part. However, procedures in this regard were often non-binding. Respondents' ratings of the reliability of the collection of data on publication costs varied by the source of publication funding. Eighty percent of respondents rated the contribution of collecting data on publication costs to shaping the open access transformation as "very important" or "important." Yet, these data were used as a basis for strategic decisions in only 59% of the surveyed RPOs. Moreover, most respondents considered the implementation of an information budget at their institutions by 2025 unlikely. We discuss the implications of these findings for the open access transformation.
title Pursuing transparency: How research performing organizations in Germany collect data on publication costs
topic Digital Libraries
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.08340