#OAWeek 2025: Questions about Open Access? Open Office Hours on Friday

For more than three years, the University Library (TUB) has been offering open, virtual office hours on Open Access every Friday. From basic concepts and publisher agreements to funding opportunities and publication alternatives – the office hours are available to everyone interested at TUHH. As part of Open Access Week 2025, we cordially invite you to join us in our Zoom room with your questions!

Discussion on OA week topics

This week, we have been and will continue to highlight various aspects of open science, teaching, and learning in our Open Access Week blog series. Topics range from supporting publication infrastructures like arXiv, to critically examining commercial exploitation interests and predatory practices. We also cover Green Open Access with TORE as a self-determined alternative. In the coming days, posts on Open Educational Resources (OER) and international perspectives on openness will follow.

Use the office hours to discuss these topics with us! Together, we can also take a virtual look at our new Open Access poster exhibition. It is currently on display in the rotunda. The posters are also documented in our opening post for Open Access Week 2025 and offer many starting points for discussion.

What can you expect in the office hours?

In a relaxed atmosphere, the Open Access Team meets for about half an hour in an open Zoom room. Unlike email or phone consultations, we can look at your screen or our web offerings together in direct conversation, review documents, or explore publication platforms. Whether it’s secondary publication rights, funding through our Open Access Publication Fund, or publisher agreements that you can benefit from as a TUHH member: we address each desired topic individually. Over the past months and years, we have jointly clarified publication funding, discussed publication processes, and provided advice on Creative Commons licenses.

Access to the Open Access Office Hours:

• Time: Fridays from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM
• Link: Zoom (passcode: 190591)

Additional offers related to Open Access

For doctoral candidates: 
In our workshop series „Collect, Write, Publish“, which we organize together with the Graduate Academy, we provide comprehensive insights into Open Access and scholarly publishing (next date: March 4, 2026). Further information and registration options will be available at the beginning of 2026. You can find them on the Graduate Academy and University Library websites.

For institutes and research groups: 
In addition to the open office hours, we also offer individually tailored introductory presentations on Open Access at TU institutes. Here we can address your specific questions or issues – e.g., regarding license selection, copyright, or secondary publication. Please feel free to contact us with specific date and topic requests.

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We will be happy to advise you on Open Access

You can reach the Open Access team via mail openaccess@tuhh.de.

Please also feel free to take part in our Open Access consultation hours via Zoom (identification code: 190591) if you have questions regarding Open Access (every Friday from 10:00 am to 10:30 am).