ZBW sends clear signal for open science

Kiel/Hamburg, 20 June 2023: ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics supports the Open Access transformation of the renowned journal “European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention” (EJEEP) with Open Library Economics. Starting with the first issue of 2023, which appeared in June, the journal will be published in Diamond Open Access. At the same time, all previous volumes of the journals will be made freely accessible and reusable in Open Access. With this decision, the ZBW sends a clear signal for open science and strengthens the visibility and relevance of the journal in the scientific community.

The renowned journal “European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies” (EJEEP) is an important forum for studies in macroeconomic theory, economic institutions, and economic policy. The journal publishes high-quality contributions from leading international scientists and is an important source of information for research, teaching and practice.

From 2023, EJEEP is being published as a scholar-led Diamond Open Access journal in cooperation with Open Library Economics (OLEcon) and supported by the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

Decision-making authority is given to the scholarly editors, whereas publisher Edward Elgar continues as service provider for the production and publication of the journal. Readers won’t have to pay fees from now on. Authors don’t have to pay submission fees, either. The production costs for EJEEP are being financed from ZBW project funds and will be organised in the long term through joint funding from libraries. This funding model avoids inequalities that can arise from article fees or individual subscriptions. In addition, all previous volumes since 2004 are available worldwide in Open Access for free reuse.

“We are very happy to see EJEEP published in Diamond Open Access and we would like to thank the ZBW and Open Library Economics for their support in the transformation of the journal,” says Professor Torsten Niechoj, leading editor of EJEEP. The journal’s editors – besides Niechoj these are professors Eckhard Hein (HWR Berlin), Marc Lavoie (University of Ottawa, Canada) and Gennaro Zezza (University Cassino, Italy) – agree: “From now on it doesn’t matter to researchers or others interested in the subject whether their own university library subscribes to the journal – as soon as an article is published it can be found immediately and easily through search engines or directly on www.elgaronline.com/ejeep.”

ZBW library director Thorsten Meyer adds: “Funding scholar-led, non-commercial Open Access is a keystone of ZBW strategy. We are proud to be able to transform the journal EJEEP into Diamond Open Access together with the editors.” Edward Elgar also welcomes the collaboration and views it as a viable model for smaller publishers who want to open up to Open Access.

The transformation of EJEEP into a scholar-led Diamond Open Access journal demonstrates the editors’ and the ZBW’s engagement for open science and free access to scientific information. The collaboration with OLEcon and Edward Elgar enables EJEEP to reach more readers and authors and to make an important contribution to the scientific debate in the field of economics.