E-Journals – University Library Erlangen-Nürnberg

How are open access publications cited?

Ulrike Riedlberger — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 06:10:19 +0000

As with all internet sources: surname, first name, title. URL (access date).

How and where can I publish my own open access journal?

Isabelle Delker — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 06:07:33 +0000

There are several possible approaches if you have an idea for a new journal. If the open access journal is to be published by a large special interest publisher you should contact the publisher’s programme planning department. Check in the publisher’s programme or the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) beforehand whether the publisher publishes purely open access journals.

At Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) you can also publish series through FAU University Press or publish them digitally via the University’s open access repository OPEN FAU. The staff at FAU University Press and OPEN FAU are happy to help.

If you would like to set up an independent open access journal with researchers at other institutions and publish it yourself, we recommend the open source software Open Journal Systems.

What are the rejection rates for open-access journals?

Ulrike Riedlberger — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 06:02:00 +0000

BioMed Central: approx. 40%, PLOS: approx. 50%

Won’t the rise of cheap, open-access journals spell the end for traditional, high-quality journals?

Ulrike Riedlberger — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:57:00 +0000

The myth about ‘cheap open access journals’ was dispelled a long time ago. As already mentioned, large academic publishers are also part of the growing open access movement. Furthermore, unlike the previous model, it increases quality as the academic publishers are no longer including low-quality journals with the high-quality ones in the packages sold to libraries.

Which editing system would be best for publishing my open-access journal?

Nora Strauß — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:46:48 +0000

The free open source software Open Journal Systems (OJS) assists with each stage of the process of producing open access journals. OJS was developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and published under a GNU General Public License.

The software allows you to manage rights, choose layout options and set different roles (reader, author, editor, proof-reader, web designer, reviewer), and has an OAI-PMH interface to distribute article metadata in search engines and (library) catalogues. In addition to the local installation and administration, you can also have your journal hosted for a fee (from USD 850 per journal title and year as of 1 July 2015).

Which publishers are considered predatory publishers?

Isabelle Delker — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:43:48 +0000

See https://ub.fau.de/en/research/open-access/predatory-open-access-publishers/

What are the impact factors of open access journals?

Ulrike Riedlberger — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:40:30 +0000

The impact factors can be found in the Journal Citation Reports® database from Thomson Reuters in the same way as traditional journals. Most open access journals are now evaluated by Thomson Reuters.

Open access journals and publishers often advertise their impact factors on their websites.

The impact factors of the publisher Springer are available here: http://www.springer.com/gp/impact-factor-2015.

What should I keep in mind when using electronic journals?

Nora Strauß — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 06:01:29 +0000

E-journals are listed in the University Library (UB) catalog and the Electronic Journals Library (EZB).

Searching the catalog has the added benefit of finding printed editions available at the UB. The UB catalog only lists e-journals that are fully available, while the EZB also lists journals that are only partially or not accessible. Often, you can find a table of contents or an abstract.

Please note that more than one URL may be listed in the catalog. For ease of use, simply click the Full Text button to access a journal.

The Electronic Journals Library (EZB) provides quick, structured, and uniform access to full-text scientific journals. The degree to which you have access to the journals is indicated by a system of traffic light symbols.
Titles that the UB has licensed are marked yellow. In such a case, please also consult the respective readme. It will inform you how to access the electronic full texts.

Most licensed journals are only available within the network of the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg.

If you have questions or are having trouble accessing a specific journal, please ask a librarian.

Which library services can I access remotely and which ones require me to be present in person?

Nora Strauß — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 09:54:32 +0000

The catalog is accessible through our website and offers the means to search, order and borrow books (this entails amongst other things: Checking your library account, renewing of the loan period of previously borrowed media, and reserving of currently lended media)

Full-fledged access to databases and E-Journals requires a PC with connection to the University Network.
Remote access to the network can be granted via a VPN client. The range of accessible media through this method, however, is limited.