Transform2Open is a DFG-funded project that addresses the development of budgets, criteria, competency profiles, and other processes at research institutions related to the financial aspects of the Open Access transformation.

Transform2Open supports transformational activities at research institutions in Germany through the following actions:

1. improving and developing cost monitoring mechanisms;
2. promoting the interplay of library budgets, third-party funding, and other financial resources at research institutions to create overarching information budgets;
3. developing international criteria for contracts with commercial publishing service providers;
4. optimizing workflows for the handling of publications’ associated metadata, and invoices;
5. promoting financial transparency for the Open Access transformation
6. and identifying organizational structures and determining competence profiles for professionals at research institutions involved in the Open Access transformation

Transform2Open organizes dialogue forums through which it develops recommendations for strategies, concepts, and measures to shape the Open Access transformation at universities and non-university research institutions.

As part of the Transform2Open project, the aim is always to take into account the diversity of different disciplines and their publication cultures. The costs of information supply and publishing as well as the costs of acquiring monographs and the costs of publishing open access monographs (book processing charges) are explicitly included in the costs of information supply and publishing. However, in view of the dominance (volume and costs) of journal publications in the academic system, this area is usually the focus of discussions with stakeholders and thus of the work packages.

Through these efforts, the project ensures the successful interaction of various transformative efforts together with the project open-access.network and the Focus Group on Information Budget, the project openCost as well as DEAL, and other initiatives and projects in Germany and internationally.

Project partners of the Transform2Open project are the Central Library of Forschungszentrum Jülich, Potsdam University Library, and the Helmholtz Open Science Office.

Transform2Open was approved by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in August 2022 and the project started its work in January 2023. The project is scheduled to run for 36 months.

Projekt application

Bertelmann, R., Mittermaier, B., Kostädt, P., Barbers, I., Höhnow, T., Ferguson, L. M., Pampel, H., Schrader, A. C., & Weisweiler, N. (2022). Transform2Open. Kostenmonitoring, Kriterien, Kompetenzen und Prozesse der Open-Access-Transformation. Helmholtz Open Science Office. https://doi.org/10.48440/os.helmholtz.054

Interim report

Bertelmann, R., Mittermaier, B., Kostädt, P., Barbers, I., Ferguson, L. M., Höhnow, T., Meistring, M., Pampel, H., Schön, M., & Shelly, J. (2024). Zwischenbericht des Projekts Transform2Open "Transform2Open. Kostenmonitoring, Kriterien, Kompetenzen und Prozesse der Open-Access-Transformation" – Öffentlicher Teil. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10794378