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OLEcon -
for a sustainable funding of your journal

Open Library Economics (OLEcon) is an initiative of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

Open Library Economics supports non-commercial Diamond Open Access for journals in economics and business studies.

Diamant Open Access

— no fees for authors (article processing charges / APCs) and
— no fees for readers (paywall).

OLEcon offers support for setting up a sustainable alternative funding for your journal through a consortium of libraries.

Returning scholarly journals into the hands of science.

This is also called scholar-led Open Access.

It means that the rights to a journal title and thus the decision-making authority on all matters regarding the journal rest with the editors. In some cases, the rights to a journal title are owned by a commercial publisher. OLEcon supports editors in the negotiations to regain these title rights.

With these goals, OLEcon puts into practice two key demands of current science policy:

1. strengthening non-commercial infrastructures
2. Open Access without fees for researchers and readers.

Why Open Access with OLEcon?

More visibility

Open Access journals are more visible than journals behind paywalls. Articles can be linked or shared without access issues.

More innovative

More and more research funding agencies demand that research findings resulting from their funding must be published in Open Access (see the initiative Plan S). An Open Access business model gives an advantage to journals in the competition for submissions.

More attractive for authors

Journals published in Diamond Open Access are more attractive for authors since they don’t have to pay article processing charges. This is also shown by the experience of Wirtschaftsdienst and Intereconomics (journals edited by the ZBW): page views and submissions increased after the change to Open Access.

Scholar-led

OLEcon journals are scholar-led. Therefore, the editors can act and make decisions independently of commercial publishing houses.

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