Science Europe supports Open Access, the principle and practice of providing free online access to scholarly publications. The association has established its very own set of common principles that will facilitate a smooth transition from subscription to Open Access. Science Europe has also been instrumental in developing and promoting Plan S.
Open Access is the practice of granting access to scholarly outputs (such as publications) to anyone without any costs or other barriers and restrictions, including to most forms of use and re-use by humans and machines.
Science Europe strongly believes that Open Access to research publications, as defined in the Berlin Declaration, improves the pace, efficiency, and efficacy of research, and heightens the authors’ visibility, and thus the potential impact of their work. By removing structural and geographical barriers that hinder the free circulation of knowledge, it contributes to increased collaboration, ultimately strengthening scientific quality and capacity.
Moving to a system of Open Access that enables re-use and computational analysis of published material, will open up new possibilities for researchers to access information, and improve knowledge transfer for society, policy, and the economy.
This is also crucial in order to increase both the impact of publications and the cost efficiency of the publication system. This will spark innovation and facilitate interdisciplinary research, as well as scholarly exchange on a global scale, for the benefit of not only the research community, but also the economy and society as a whole.
Science Europe and its Member Organisations are committed to playing a role in accomplishing a smooth and rapid transition to Open Access. The transition must take place in an efficient and sustainable way, avoiding unnecessary costs. It also requires strong engagement of the research community, in order to adapt the system to a culture of sharing. Defining new models to replace the current subscription system, elaborating guidelines adapted to the different forms of research publications, revising research evaluation mechanisms, raising awareness as well as addressing possible impacts to other aspects of the research process are among the priorities of Science Europe and its Member Organisations.
In 2013, Science Europe's Member Organisations unanimously endorsed and committed to a set of common principles on the transition to Open Access to research publications. Today, as a result, an overwhelming majority of its members have implemented Open Access policies or are actively developing them. Today, many of Science Europe Member Organisations share the most advanced Open Access policies in the world.
Science Europe is constantly working with its Member Organisations, and members of the research community, to elaborate the best possible solutions to practical aspects of the transition and implementation of full Open Access policies, adapted to the different contexts.
The research performing members of Science Europe are among the leading organisations promoting Open Access with very concrete actions, such as the OA2020 initiative launched by the Max Planck Society, and the Leibniz Association’s Science 2.0 Research Alliance.
In September 2018, 11 Science Europe Member Organisations, supported by the European Commission and the European Research Council created cOAlition S and launched Plan S, an initiative to accelerate the transition to full Open Access.
Plan S requires that recipients of research funding from cOAlition S organisations make the resulting publications available immediately (without embargoes) and under open licences, either in quality Open Access platforms or journals or through immediate deposit in open repositories that fulfil the necessary conditions.
Science Europe continues to support its Member Organisations in implementing Plan S and has actively contributed to grow cOAlition S into a global movement that is supported by a large number of stakeholders and research communities.
More information and guidelines for Plan S implementation can be found here.
| Country | Organisation | Acronym | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | Austrian Science Fund | FWF | Katharina Rieck |
| Belgium | Fund for Scientific Research | FRS-FNRS | Jean-Claude Kita |
| Belgium | Research Foundation Flanders | FWO | Guy Thoonen |
| Croatia | Croatian Science Foundation | HRZZ | Lovorka Barać Lauc |
| Czech Republic | Czech Science Foundation | GAČR | Petr Chorošenin |
| Estonia | Estonian Research Council | ETAg | Marika Meltsas |
| Finland | Academy of Finland | AKA | Jussi Varkemaa |
| France | French National Research Agency | ANR | Zoé Ancion |
| Germany | German Research Foundation | DFG | Astrid Sänger |
| Germany | Max Planck Society | MPG | Georg Botz |
| Germany | Leibniz Association | Leibniz | Olaf Siegert |
| Ireland | Science Foundation Ireland | SFI | Marion Boland |
| Ireland | Health Research Board | HRB | Patricia Clarke |
| Italy | National Institute for Nuclear Physics | INFN | Laura Patrizii |
| Latvia | Latvian Science Council | LZP | Ingmars Kreismanis |
| Lithuania | Research Council of Lithuania | LMT | Irmantas Pečiūra |
| Netherlands | Dutch Research Council | NWO | Hans de Jonge |
| Norway | Research Council of Norway | RCN | Jon Øygarden Flæten |
| Poland | National Science Centre Poland | NCN | Laura Bandura-Morgan |
| Portugal | Foundation for Science and Technology | FCT | Vasco Vaz |
| Romania | Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding | UEFISCDI | Alina Irimia |
| Spain | Spanish National Research Council | CSIC | Agnès Ponsati Obiols |
| Sweden | Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare | FORTE | Tommy Dahlen |
| Sweden | Swedish Research Council | VR | Lisbeth Söderqvist |
| Switzerland | Swiss National Science Foundation | SNSF | Tobias Philipp |
| United Kingdom | UK Research and Innovation | UKRI | Paul Richards |
So far, much of the focus of the transition towards Open Access has been on scholarly and scientific articles. However, a significant number of disciplines, notably – but not only – within the Social Sciences, the Arts, and the Humanities produce and heavily use books. This briefing paper identifies the key issues at stake in implementing a policy of Open Access to academic books, and outlines recommendations for different stakeholder groups to facilitate and accelerate such a policy.
Today cOAlition S releases revised guidance on Plan S implementation which has been approved by all coalition members. “Plan S is a bold step forward which the European Commission, along with a growing number of national funders, is committed to implement” explained Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Science, Research and Innovation.
Researchers and research funders have a collective duty of care for the science system as a whole. The current publication paywalls withhold a substantial amount of research results from a large fraction of the scientific community and from society as a whole.
‘Big Deals’ are one of the dominant but highly-disputed business models in academic publishing. The model needs to be further analysed before it can be used as an instrument to implement and increase Open Access. This workshop was as organised to trigger further expert discussions on the current business models and consider the available alternatives.
This open letter issued by the international research community calls on Members of the European Parliament to halt the adoption of harmful provisions found in the current draft of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, which could threaten Open Access and Open Science.
Science Europe is committed to playing a role in accomplishing the transition to Open Access in an efficient and sustainable way and encourages scientific institutions to disclose payments of Open Access publication fees by participating in the ‘Open APC Initiative.’ This paper highlights how this will help create a more transparent cost structure in the Open Access publication market and stimulate competition.