The first step toward open access to research findings is an open discussion on what this involves and how it can be achieved. The EU-funded project called PASTEUR4OA (Open Access Policy Alignment Strategies for European Union Research)—which ran from February 2014 to July 2016—brought together experts to develop and reinforce open access strategies and policies across Member States in a coordinated and collaborative approach. The premise of this project was that it is essential that a scientist working in one country has access to relevant research happening in another. Funders across the globe, including the European Commission, acknowledge the numerous benefits of open access to publicly funded research.
The European Commission has a mandatory open access policy for research publications and a pilot for open access to research data in the context of Horizon 2020. Furthermore, in its 2012 Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information, the Commission has recommended that Member States develop policies to allow for open access to publicly funded research.
Member States, funders, and research institutions are gradually developing open access policies. The PASTEUR4OA project supported the development of policies that are aligned with the 2012 Recommendation and Horizon 2020 rules.
“Our goal was to record and analyze the policy situation regarding open access to research findings, as in general the whole policy picture was rather murky,” says Project Co-director Alma Swan. “There was some understanding of what policies were out there, and we knew that while some were very effective, others were not—so this project was an opportunity to have a go at settling the mud.”
The project began by searching for open access policies around the world and recording them in detail. “Once we had all the policies and all their characteristics recorded, we used this information to analyze the anatomy of a good policy,” Swan says.
What they concluded was that a policy must be mandatory and firmly established as a rule and not an option for research results to become available in open access. The project showed that for this to happen, especially in research institutions, it is most efficient that a policy for open access be connected to performance evaluation procedures.
In addition to this research work, the project put considerable effort into building a European-wide network of expert organizations to promote open access, encourage policy development and alignment, and support one another in these aims. The outcome of this work is the Knowledge Net, a network of expert organizations, known as “Key Nodes,” from each country that has the authority and expertise to engage with policymakers.
These Key Nodes provide policy-makers with information, share best practices, and offer guidance and advice where appropriate.
“We have 33 organizations in Knowledge Net and, because the network has been embraced by OpenAIRE, the Commission’s open access infrastructure organization, it has been able to continue this work even after the end of the PASTEUR4OA funding period,” Swan says.
In the context of the work of the Knowledge Net, and to support aligned policy development, the project prepared a large set of short but authoritative research and advocacy materials for national policymakers. For more information, see the PASTEUR4OA website: www.pasteur4oa.eu.
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The first step toward open access to research findings is an open discussion on what this involves and how it can be achieved. The EU-funded project called PASTEUR4OA (Open Access Policy Alignment Strategies for European Union Research)—which ran from February 2014 to July 2016—brought together experts to develop and reinforce open access strategies and policies across Member States in a coordinated and collaborative approach. The premise of this project was that it is essential that a scientist working in one country has access to relevant research happening in another. Funders across the globe, including the European Commission, acknowledge the numerous benefits of open access to publicly funded research.
The European Commission has a mandatory open access policy for research publications and a pilot for open access to research data in the context of Horizon 2020. Furthermore, in its 2012 Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information, the Commission has recommended that Member States develop policies to allow for open access to publicly funded research.
Member States, funders, and research institutions are gradually developing open access policies. The PASTEUR4OA project supported the development of policies that are aligned with the 2012 Recommendation and Horizon 2020 rules.
“Our goal was to record and analyze the policy situation regarding open access to research findings, as in general the whole policy picture was rather murky,” says Project Co-director Alma Swan. “There was some understanding of what policies were out there, and we knew that while some were very effective, others were not—so this project was an opportunity to have a go at settling the mud.”
The project began by searching for open access policies around the world and recording them in detail. “Once we had all the policies and all their characteristics recorded, we used this information to analyze the anatomy of a good policy,” Swan says.
What they concluded was that a policy must be mandatory and firmly established as a rule and not an option for research results to become available in open access. The project showed that for this to happen, especially in research institutions, it is most efficient that a policy for open access be connected to performance evaluation procedures.
In addition to this research work, the project put considerable effort into building a European-wide network of expert organizations to promote open access, encourage policy development and alignment, and support one another in these aims. The outcome of this work is the Knowledge Net, a network of expert organizations, known as “Key Nodes,” from each country that has the authority and expertise to engage with policymakers.
These Key Nodes provide policy-makers with information, share best practices, and offer guidance and advice where appropriate.
“We have 33 organizations in Knowledge Net and, because the network has been embraced by OpenAIRE, the Commission’s open access infrastructure organization, it has been able to continue this work even after the end of the PASTEUR4OA funding period,” Swan says.
In the context of the work of the Knowledge Net, and to support aligned policy development, the project prepared a large set of short but authoritative research and advocacy materials for national policymakers. For more information, see the PASTEUR4OA website: www.pasteur4oa.eu.