Open access journals are accepted into the rating and are evaluated according to the same criteria as traditional publication series. For the Level 2 and Level 3, the aim is to promote open science in the following way: 

• If candidates for Level 2 or Level 3 in the same field have equal impact or prestige, an open access journal or one permitting self-archiving of the peer-reviewed version of the manuscript is chosen for higher level, over the channel that does not support open access.

• A journal/series that allows self-archiving can only be favored in a comparison if the publication channel allows immediate self-archiving of the peer-reviewed version of the manuscript. For book publishers and book series, an embargo period may be allowed: 6 months in science and technology, and 12 months in human sciences.

• Openness of data can also be considered an advantage.

It is checked when comparing whether open access provides grounds to decide on selection.