In an interview, she talks about her experiences as an editor and the potential of this publication model.
Scientific publications are at the heart of academic research, but access to them is not always guaranteed. Libraries have to pay expensive licences for specialist journals, and researchers without institutional affiliations often face paywalls. Open access models address this issue and enable free access to knowledge. But how does this principle work in practice? And what challenges does it pose?
Anja Becker is co-editor of Beitr?ge zur medi?vistischen Erz?hlforschung (BmE), an online journal that has been published in Diamond Open Access format since 2017. This model does not charge subscription fees or publication costs for authors. However, if no one pays anything, financing becomes tricky. Since there is hardly any funding for open access journals, academic institutions have to step in, but they are notoriously underfunded. How can such a model, which promises open access to knowledge, prove itself in the long term?
It's all about the community
A central element of the BmE's open access model is its collaborative nature. Researchers ensure quality assurance and take on editorial work for special issues, which they supervise as guest editors; the BmE editorial team creates the layout and organises the publication process. All work steps are thus the responsibility of the researchers – a deliberate contrast to commercial publishers. Anja Becker emphasises that this model not only breaks down financial barriers, but also leaves control over the scientific discourse in the hands of the researchers themselves, because ‘the copyright and exploitation rights always remain with the authors,’ while at the same time the articles are easy to reuse. However, this approach also presents challenges. The entire editorial and organisational work requires a considerable amount of time and a strong commitment from those involved.
Since its inception, BmE has established itself as a fixture in medieval studies. The journal emerged from a large section of the 2016 German Studies Conference and quickly developed into a recognised platform under the editorship of Prof. Dr. Albrecht Hausmann (University of Oldenburg) and Prof. Dr. Anja Becker. A special feature is its multilingualism: articles are published in German, English, French and Italian in order to appeal to a broad international readership and promote interdisciplinary cooperation.
Despite its many advantages, open access remains a challenge in the humanities. In addition to long-term funding, there is the question of digital archiving to ensure scientific citability. Cooperation with university libraries is essential here, as they have the necessary technical infrastructure.
Overall, open access is more than just a form of publication – it is a movement that aims to make science more democratic and accessible. Anja Becker sees this model as the future, but emphasises that continuous commitment from the academic community is needed to establish open access successfully in the long term.
Formats such as the contributions to medieval narrative research show that open access is not just an alternative to the traditional publishing system, but above all opens up new avenues for academic exchange. Ultimately, it is up to everyone involved to actively shape these developments so that open access is implemented and recognised as a publication format in the long term.
Further information and the 27 annual, thematic and special issues of Beitr?ge zur medi?vistischen Erz?hlforschung can be found here:
