The journals b.i.t.online and Katina Magazine have each published an article on the openCost project.
Article in b.i.t.online
In her paper ‘Commercial knowledge? Transparent publishing with openCost’, Lisa-Marie Stein (DESY) shows the extent to which openCost represents a building block in the development of the targeted information budget:
The scientific publication system is undergoing a transformation with the aim of manifesting open access, fair criteria and transparency. The openCost project can be seen as a tool for disclosing financial flows and ensuring an automated and standardised infrastructure in the publication cost management of a scientific institution. This article provides an overview of the project initiative, its methodological approach, news on the openCost metadata schema and practical advantages resulting from the technical interface and ECB extension.
The article can be viewed here (german only).
Article in Katina Magazine
In the article ‘Building an Infrastructure for Cost Data Transparency’, Julia Bartlewski (Bielefeld University Library) and Bianca Schweighofer (University Library of Regensburg) report on how the project contributes to cost transparency by creating an appropriate technical infrastructure:
The transition to open access (OA) has increased the visibility of scholarly work, but understanding and managing publication costs remains complex. Shifting from subscription-based to fee-based or institution-financed models fundamentally changes processes, financial flows, and the roles of stakeholders. Additionally, the lack of cost transparency from publishers poses significant challenges for institutions and researchers, who often face hidden or unclear fees, making budgeting and financial planning more complicated. Our project, openCost, addresses this issue head-on.
The article can be viewed here.