• The corresponding author must be affiliated with the University of Cologne (including the hospital). The publication must have been produced as part of the author's work at the University of Cologne (including the hospital).
• In the case of multiple authors: The scientific work must have been carried out predominantly at the University of Cologne (including the hospital).
• The University of Cologne must be listed as the primary affiliation and a university email address must be provided.

• Articles in pure open access journals (so-called gold open access journals)
• The article must be of the type “research article” or “review article.”
• Articles in journals with an open access option (so-called hybrid open access), if a transformation agreement has been concluded with the publisher for this journal. An overview of the publishers can be found here.

• Non-research articles, e.g., editorials, letters, correspondence, book reviews
• Articles in journals with open access options (so-called hybrid journals) if NO transformation agreement has been concluded with the publisher for this journal
• Articles in mirror journals
• Articles in predatory journals
• Closed publications in subscription journals

• Only articles in original open access journals (“golden route”) that apply strict quality assurance procedures (peer review) recognized in the respective field can be funded.
  • An overview of such journals is provided, for example, by the DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals.
  • If the journal is not listed in the DOAJ, quality assurance must be guaranteed (case-by-case review).
• Funding for hybrid open access is only available for existing transformation and open access agreements (e.g., Project DEAL).
• Open access in mirror journals is not subsidized, even if they are listed in the DOAJ. A mirror journal is a spin-off of a subscription journal with a similar name and is therefore a form of hybrid journal.
• The authors must provide the publications with licenses that regulate the reuse of the publications in a legally compliant manner. The DFG recommends CC-BY or CC-BY-SA as standard.
• Please ensure that you use your ORCID.
• The financing mechanisms for open access will continue to be developed in the future. High-quality information helps with the evaluation of articles. Please always indicate your third-party funding in “Funding Acknowledgements” and adhere to the publication guidelines of the University of Cologne. Third-party funding should be used preferentially.
• No bank charges, handling fees, or costs for supplemental material will be funded. This means that these will be charged in full when calculating the author's own contribution.
• The author must endeavor to obtain a simple publication right from the publisher.
• Mandatory use of identifiers, e.g., DOI

Please submit your application for publication cost coverage via the publication cost app.

The gross total costs are divided into three parts.

• Minimum share: EUR 300
• Maximum share: EUR 1,300

A contribution of EUR 300 is charged to the authors.

The own contribution is settled via a finance and cost center or, in the case of third-party funding, via a PSP element of the University of Cologne or the University Hospital.

No invoices will be issued to authors for hybrid open access articles within the transformation agreements (see overview). Billing is handled automatically and centrally, particularly for all articles related to Project DEAL.

All other open access publications must be submitted to the central invoicing department.

As the corresponding author, please have the publisher send the invoices as PDF files directly to the following email address: rechnungseingangverw.uni-koeln.de. The following address must be provided to the publisher:

University of Cologne
Central Invoice Receiving Department
P.O. Box 41 09 24
50869 Cologne

Cost center: 300102010

The supplier must always be informed that, in addition to the correct billing address, the cost center must also be specified. Only with this information can the invoice be directly assigned within the university.

Please always provide the university's VAT number (tax number): DE 123486767.

Even if your publication is to be paid for 100% from third-party funds, these instructions must be followed.

If you have third-party funding beyond your own contribution that can be used to finance the publication, please indicate this in your application. The invoice can be paid in full or in part from third-party funds. Third-party funding must be indicated in the article in the funding acknowledgments. The DFG has created an information page for details on DFG funding. Please contact the responsible project manager in the third-party funding department (University Hospital: GB Finance/University: Research Department) to find out the amount for publication payment.

A PSP element is required for the internal cost allocation of the available amount that exceeds the own contribution.

Even if your publication is to be financed 100% from third-party funds, we ask you to run the invoice through USB Cologne.

The agreement is valid for the year 2026. The fund criteria will be evaluated annually. We will announce any changes in good time.