University Library of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz joins OLH LPS model

We are pleased to announce that the University Library of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has joined the Open Library of Humanities' Library Partnership Subsidy system. 

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is one of the largest and most diverse universities in Germany and unites almost all academic disciplines under one roof, including the Mainz University Medical Center, the Academy of Arts, the School of Music, and the Faculty of Translation Studies, Linguistics and Cultural Studies. With 75 fields of study and more than 260 degree courses, JGU offers its 32.000 students a broad range of courses.

The university, originally founded in 1477, strives to emulate the innovational spirit of its namesake. JGU was among the first german universities to sign OA2020 Mission, the international initiative for a complete conversion of scholarly journals to open access. Dr. Andreas Brandtner, director of the Mainz University Library, states: “Open access is a major factor of success in the digital transformation of science.” 

The Open Library of Humanities is an academic-led, gold open-access publisher with no author-facing charges. With funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the platform covers its costs by payments from an international library consortium rather than any kind of author fee.

Professor Martin Paul Eve, a founder and academic project director of the OLH, welcomed JGU: “Open access in the humanities will not necessarily be achieved by the same author-pays system as that in the sciences. OLH journals admit material solely based on quality through peer review. With the support of institutions such as JGU, we will expand this model so that high-standard academic research material in the humanities is available to anyone who wishes to read it.”