For scholars it is naturally very important to publish their research output at a venue of high quality and renown. As far as electronic publications are concerned however, it is as important to ensure that they are freely accessible and can be read by anyone who wants or needs to do so. However if they have to be licensed, their availability can be severely limited and cause high costs for libraries or single readers.

Multiple studies prove that Open Access publications achieve higher citation rates than closed access publications. This effect is referred to as Open Access Citation Advantage (see for example the large scale study by Piwowar et al. 2018). While such studies mainly refer to journal articles, we can project that similar effects can be achieved for secondary publications of other formats.

So if you think about publishing electronically or even founding an electronic journal, do inform yourself about the possibilities to publish Open Access.

• Ensure that the results of your academic work can be accessed freely by your fellow researchers and interested readers worldwide!