What is the FWF’s Open-Access Block Grant?
Costs for the open-access (OA) publishing of work (peer-reviewed journal articles, contributions to edited volumes, etc.) resulting in whole or in part from FWF-funded projects can be covered by means of an Open-Access Block Grant provided in addition to the approved project budget. Since January 1, 2024, the Open-Access Block Grant has replaced the previous procedures and guidelines of the Peer-Reviewed Publications program completely and for all projects, regardless of approval date.
The Open-Access Block Grant is awarded once a year to Austrian research institutions. It is calculated on a pro rata basis, based on the FWF’s annual budget for new approvals, and is intended to make it easier for FWF-funded researchers to comply with the FWF's Open-Access Policy. OA funding by means of the Open-Access Block Grant is in line with the PROFI funding mode, under which Austrian research institutions administer the funds.
What are the basic principles behind the FWF’s Open-Access Block Grant?
The Open-Access Block Grant is intended to compensate for most of the open access publication costs resulting entirely or in part from FWF-funded projects (see also “Funding goals” in the program description). The Open-Access Block Grant can never replace the costs in full, because publications are often the result of several funding sources.
Are all Austrian research institutions eligible for Open-Access Block Grants?
The acquisition of FWF funding in the last five years and the signing of the FWF's Open-Access Block Grant contract are prerequisites for receipt of the Open-Access Block Grant. Austrian research institutions interested in signing the Open-Access Block Grant contract should contact oap(at)fwf.ac.at.
When and how often is the Open-Access Block Grant paid out?
The Open-Access Block Grant is paid out at the beginning of each year to Austrian research institutions with a valid Open-Access Block Grant contract. The first Open-Access Block Grant payments were made in early 2024.
What are the requirements for publications funded under the Open-Access Block Grant?
The following requirements apply:
- The following text must be included in all publications upon submission:
- For publications in English:
This research was funded in whole or in part by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [grant DOI]. For open access purposes, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright license to any author accepted manuscript version arising from this submission. - For publications in German:
Diese Forschung wurde gänzlich oder teilweise durch den Wissenschaftsfonds FWF finanziert [Grant-DOI]. Zum Zweck des freien Zugangs hat der:die Autor:in für jedwede akzeptierte Manuskriptversion, die sich aus dieser Einreichung ergibt, eine „Creative Commons Attribution CC BY“-Lizenz vergeben.
- In addition, the corresponding author must have a valid affiliation with the grant recipient, i.e., with the Austrian research institution administering the Open-Access Block Grant. The corresponding author is the person who is the official contact for the publisher and is identified as such in the publication itself. Austrian research institutions are entitled to establish their own additional criteria for Open-Access Block Grant funding as long as these criteria do not contradict the terms of the Open-Access Block Grant contract.
Which costs are eligible for funding?
The Open-Access Block Grant is intended to ensure compliance with the FWF's Open-Access Policy and can only be used to cover OA publishing costs. These costs inlcude:
- Costs for peer-reviewed publications under a CC BY license in DOAJ-listed, gold open-access journals (fully open access)
- Fees for diamond open-access platforms and alternative OA publishing platforms, if the publications are published under a CC BY license and without an embargo period
- Fees for bilateral as well as transformative national and consortium OA agreements involving the grant recipient, i.e., the research institution, and concluded with publishers by December 31, 2024. Publications under transformative open access agreements must be published under a CC BY license and without an embargo period. Funding for transformative agreements negotiated before the end of 2024 is available only until December 31, 2027.
Which costs are not eligible?
The Open-Access Block Grant cannot be used for the following costs:
- Costs for open-access publications in subscription journals (hybrid open access), unless they are part of transformative open-access agreements. Please note that costs for articles in transformative open-access journals can only be funded under transformative agreements (cf. hybrid open access).
- Other costs associated with publication that are not subject to open access (e.g. page charges, color charges, cover charges)
- Costs for delayed or retroactive open access publication
- Reading access costs
- Costs for publications with licenses other than the CC BY license
- Costs for bilateral as well as transformative national and consortium OA agreements involving the grant recipient, i.e., the research institution, concluded with publishers after December 31, 2024
- Open-access fees associated with peer-reviewed monographs, entire edited volumes, or entire Special Issues. These costs are still eligible for funding under the FWF’s Book Publications program.
- Regular business expenses of the recipient
- OA administrative management costs (e.g., personnel costs)
How are Open-Access Block Grant costs claimed?
All costs funded by the Open-Access Block Grant must be auditable, proportionate and comply with the guidelines of the Open-Access Block Grant. The FWF provides a mandatory template for monitoring costs.
How should costs be claimed for open access agreements (e.g., transformative open-access agreements)?
All costs funded by the Open-Access Block Grant must be auditable, proportionate, and comply with the guidelines of the Open-Access Block Grant. In the case of an agreement that entails an annual payment to a publisher, the portion that corresponds to the percentage of publications under this agreement in a given year that result from FWF projects can be funded by the Open-Access Block Grant.
How can costs for diamond open-access journals or platforms be claimed with the FWF Open-Access Block Grant?
All costs funded by the Open-Access Block Grant must be auditable, proportionate, and comply with the guidelines of the Open-Access Block Grant. Diamond open-access journals or platforms are non-commercial, non-profit, open-access publication media that do not charge publication fees for authors or costs for readers (see Diamond Open Access | UNESCO). The journals and platforms must be listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). In the case of a diamond open-access journal or platform that is supported on an annual basis, the portion corresponding to the percentage of publications resulting from FWF projects in a given year can be funded by the Open-Access Block Grant.
Can the Open-Access Block Grant also be used to financially support open science infrastructures (e.g., DOAJ, preprint servers, repositories, journal software)?
No. The Open-Access Block Grant can only be used to support open-access publications that result entirely or in part from FWF-funded projects. The FWF already funds a number of open-access infrastructures that also benefit the Austrian scientific community.
Can expenses for book publications also be settled using the Open-Access Block Grant?
No, book publications (e.g., monographs, anthologies) will continue to be funded through the Book Publications program.
What are the applicable regulations for contributions to edited volumes?
The entire edited volume is considered to be a result of the project if the editor is the project leaderprincipal investigator or a project participants, or if the edited volume is the result of a conference organized as part of a project funded by the FWF. Funding can be applied for through the Book Publications program.
Individual contributions in an open -access edited volumes (that means that all contributions ofin anthe edited volume are open access) isare considered to be a project result if the contributions of the project leaderprincipal investigator or project staff members publishappear their contributions in an open -access edited volume published by someone else. These individual contributions to an open-access Open Access edited volume can be financed viafunded with the Open -Access bBlock gGrant (comparable to financing offunding Gold Open Access).