KOALA [Konsortiale Open Access Lösungen Aufbauen]

"KOALA-AV is dedicated to establishing consortial open access solutions in Germany. Consortial models enable APC-free open access offerings (“Diamond Open Access”) and serve to sustainably anchor science-friendly alternatives to paid publishing in the spirit of a lively open access culture. Nevertheless, such offers have so far been more the exception than the rule.

Building on existing consortia and the experiences and perspectives of participating libraries, academic periodicals and consortium-leading institutions, specific challenges of existing consortia and models are examined and suggestions for improvement are developed. This includes addressing concrete participation hurdles for libraries, supporting a community of various stakeholders, simplifying consortium processes (workflows and tools), supporting international participation in consortia, i.e. also developing new sources of financing at home and abroad, and active commitment for new open access consortia at additional locations and greater visibility of consortium offers via a new web offer for an overview of current consortium offers. The aim is to promote further dissemination of these models and to increase the number of consortia and participating libraries (and thus the number of periodicals financed by consortia). The project results are developed with the participation of relevant stakeholder groups and actively shared in the relevant communities. The project makes an important contribution to the expansion and anchoring of consortium models in Germany..."