In 2019 Wiley signed a landmark Transitional Agreement with Projekt DEAL in Germany. Here we summarize the key impacts for editors and ideas for how to maximize the benefits of the agreement for your journal and community.

1. Germany is one of the leading countries worldwide in terms of research quality.

The German research landscape in a nutshell:

• A robust and mature market with a broad range of well-funded institutions that cover all areas of research, basic and applied, groundbreaking discoveries to sound science
• 2020 Nature Index Country Ranking: 3^rd most papers in the journals selected by researchers as the most influential in each discipline
• Scimago’s Country Ranking: 3rd highest h-index and total citations.
• R&D spending is among the highest compared to GDP and continues to increase each year
• High citation rates with 12.6% of the top ten percent of most cited papers

2. The Wiley/Projekt DEAL agreement marks the first nationwide open access deal in Germany.

This landmark agreement combines a “Publish and Read” model (which replaces subscription costs and covers the open access publication costs of an unlimited number of articles in Wiley’s hybrid journals) with Gold Open Access (20% reduction on Article Publication Charges (APCs) for Gold Open Access titles).

As of 2019, researchers from Projekt DEAL institutions can now read all Wiley journals and publish their own primary research and review articles open access, retaining copyright of their works. The open access publication fees are centrally paid by the participating institutions. The agreement has been signed for a time period of three years.

The Projekt DEAL consortium represents many German research institutions, including Humboldt, Fraunhofer, Helmholtz, Leopoldina, Max Planck, Leibniz, DFG, universities, Fachhochschulen (universities of applied science), including the well-known TU9 and U15 initiatives in Germany. You can review the list of eligible institutions here.

3. Your journal can take advantage of the open access publishing opportunities from this agreement.

• Increased submissions, leading to increased publication of high-quality research from Germany
• German research papers published in your journal will be available to the global community, adding visibility and driving usage and citations
• All papers published in your journal already have an increased readership in Germany as a result of this agreement
• Greater exposure of journals published by Wiley to German researchers through promotion and discussion of Projekt DEAL
• Increased awareness and positive perception of Wiley and open access in Germany, with an increase of over 80% in publication of open access papers

4. The agreement also offers an array of benefits to your authors and readers.

Corresponding authors from participating institutions who choose open access:

• Gain higher visibility for their research, including more citations and downloads, leading to increased impact
• Benefit from a simplified workflow for authors with centralized payment of OA publication fees
• Retain the copyright for their papers
• Publish under a choice of Creative Commons licenses
• Ensure full compliance with funder requirements, such as Plan S
• Have fair access to funds, irrespective of research field or research institution

For readers, the agreement means:

• Dramatically increased access to content in Germany for researchers from participating Projekt DEAL institutions
• Globally, access to high-impact research from German research institutions, freely available to read, share, cite, and re-use

5. There are many actions you can take to help your journal grow in Germany.

Leveraging the opportunities of the open access agreement certainly does not mean that you should favor research papers from Germany; it is always essential to not compromise ethical and publishing standards. Commissioning activities to attract papers from researchers in Germany will help your journal to gain market share and improve its standing in Germany, one of the world’s top research countries, but do not give preference to research papers from Germany over research from other countries.

Activities you can consider include:

• Strengthening your existing connections in Germany
• Growing your network in Germany to attract potential editorial board members and authors
• Improving your visibility to the German research community
• Identifying potential content opportunities that match your journal’s scope and quality standards
• Using the agreement’s current competitive advantage to offer potential authors open access publishing opportunities
• Participating in a transfer network with journals that have a related scope, benefiting from additional submissions and offering unsuccessful authors improved service
• Publishing a special issue on a topic that is strong in Germany, attracting great content, and helping to develop your journal
• Commissioning articles from German research institutions
• Partnering with Wiley to create a topical webinar, workshop, or conference to promote your journal and attract submissions
• Creating virtual issues that include research papers from Germany for increased visibility

6. Getting involved is easy, and we support you every step of the way.

Working closely with your Journal Publishing Manager is the first step to identify the best approach and opportunities to leverage the Projekt DEAL agreement.

We can support you with resources to best identify opportunities for your journal by:

• Sharing data on top authors, leading German institutes, and strong research fields in Germany
• Suggesting special issues, sections, or series based on analysis of research in Germany
• Highlighting major funding initiatives
• Suggesting virtual issues based on German papers published in your journal, perhaps in collaboration with another Wiley journal
• Providing you with slide decks and other material you can use for your commissioning activities

7. More information for you and your authors is at your fingertips.

We have prepared various additional resources that can help you to assess the opportunities of the Wiley/Projekt DEAL agreement for your journal:

• The Wiley/Projekt DEAL author website
• The Wiley/Projekt DEAL how-to guide for authors:
  • English version
  • German version
• The Benefits of Publishing Open Access - Why more researchers need to know about the Projekt DEAL agreement
• Open Access @ Wiley

Want to learn more about the opportunities of the Wiley/Projekt DEAL agreement for your journal? 

Get in touch with your Journal Publishing Manager to request additional information or discuss your questions.