Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research 
 
Predstavitev odprtega dostopa do publikacij in raziskovalnih podatkov 
 
Za slovenske odločevalce v znanosti 
 
Univerza v Ljubljani, Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana, 24. september 2014 
HOW POLICY MAKERS CAN SUPPORT 
OPEN ACCESS (OA) TO PUBLICATIONS 
AND OPEN RESEARCH DATA.  
Remedios Melero. Spanish National Research Council 
Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 International 
 
By "open access" to this literature (scholarly publications), we mean its 
free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to 
read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full 
texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to 
software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, 
legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining 
access to the internet itself.  
 
The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for 
copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over 
the integrity of their work and the right to be properly 
acknowledged and cited. 
Budapest Open Access Initiative (14 February 2012) 
 
Gratis Libre 
+ 
OA Green route…  
 OA repositories 
Gold route  
 …OA journals 

Recommendations for the next 10 years:  
 
1. On policy 
2. On licensing and reuse 
3. On infrastructure and sustainability 
4. On advocacy and coordination 
September 2012 
1.1. Every institution of higher education should have a policy assuring that 
peer-reviewed versions of all future scholarly articles by faculty members are 
deposited in the institution’s designated repository. 
 
1.2. Every institution of higher education offering advanced degrees should have 
a policy assuring that future theses and dissertations are deposited upon 
acceptance in the institution's OA repository. At the request of students who want 
to publish their work, or seek a patent on a patentable discovery, policies should 
grant reasonable delays rather than permanent exemptions. 
 
1.3. Every research funding agency, public or private, should have a policy 
assuring that peer-reviewed versions of all future scholarly articles reporting 
funded research are deposited in a suitable repository and made OA as soon as 
practicable. 
 
1.4. All university and funder OA policies should require deposit in a suitable 
OA repository between the date of acceptance and the date of publication. The 
metadata should be deposited as soon as it is available and should be OA from 
the moment of deposit. The full-text should be made OA as soon as the repository 
has permission to make it OA. 
On policy 
1.5. We discourage the use of journal impact factors as surrogates 
for the quality of journals, articles, or authors. We encourage the 
development of alternative metrics for impact and quality which are less 
simplistic, more reliable, and entirely open for use and reuse. 
 
1.6. Universities with institutional repositories should require 
deposit in the repository for all research articles to be considered 
for promotion, tenure, or other forms of internal assessment and 
review. 
Neither policy should be construed to limit the review of other sorts of 
evidence, or to alter the standards of review. 
 
1.7. Publishers who do not provide OA should at least permit it 
through their formal publishing agreements. 
 
On policy 
Europe  vs open access 
The Commission has carefully analysed the 
effects of open access policies on the scientific 
publishing market, both by means of a study and 
of a public consultation in 2006. These are 
available at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-
society/page_en.cfm?id=3185 
 
In August 2008 The EC announce which parts 
of FP7 will be covered by the open access 
pilot? 
 
The pilot covers approximately 20% of the FP7 
budget and will apply to specific areas of research 
under the 7th Research Framework Programme 
(FP7):  
 
Health;  Energy; Environment;  Information and 
Communication;  Technologies (Cognitive 
Systems, Interaction, Robotics); Research 
Infrastructures (e-Infrastructures);  Socio-
economic Sciences and Humanities; Science in 
Society 
 
How was Open Access implemented in FP7? 
 
• General framework: EC and ERC Guidelines 
• Special Clause 39 in Grant Agreements 
• Best effort to achieve open access to publications 
• Choice between the two routes: GREEN and GOLD OA 
• Deposit in repository is mandatory (through author or 
publisher) 
• Maximum embargo of 6 months (science, technology, 
medicine) 
and 12 months (humanities and social sciences) 
• Support provided by OpenAIRE, IPR Helpdesk, others 
• Support activities developed during the running of FP7 
http://www.openaire.eu/ 
http://zenodo.org/  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-
society/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.topic&id=1301 
In Horizon 2020, both the ‘Green’ and ‘Gold’ models are considered valid 
approaches to achieve open access.  
All projects will be requested to immediately deposit an electronic 
version of their publications (final version or peer-reviewed manuscript) into 
an archive in a machine-readable format.  
The Commission will allow an embargo period of a maximum of six months, 
except for the social sciences and humanities where the maximum will 
be twelve months (due to publications’ longer ‘half-life’) 
The Commission encourages authors to retain their copyright and to grant 
licences to publishers, according to the rules applying in Member States. 
In addition, the Commission will to set up a pilot scheme on open access to 
and re-use of research data generated by projects in selected areas of 
Horizon 2020 
In designing and implementing the pilot the Commission will take into 
account possible constraints on making research data openly 
accessible which may pertain to privacy, national security or data, and 
know-how and knowledge brought into projects as inputs.  
http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/ 
recommendation-access-and-preservation-scientific-information_en.pdf 
HEREBY RECOMMENDS THAT MEMBER STATES:  
 
Open access to scientific publications  
 
1. Define clear policies for the dissemination of and open access to 
scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research. These 
policies should provide for:  
– concrete objectives and indicators to measure progress;  
– implementation plans, including the allocation of responsibilities;  
– associated financial planning.  
 
Ensure that, as a result of these policies:  
 
– there should be open access to publications resulting from publicly 
funded research as soon as possible, preferably immediately and in any 
case no later than six months after the date of publication, and twelve months 
for social sciences and humanities;  
– licensing systems contribute to open access to scientific publications resulting 
from publicly-funded research in a balanced way, in accordance with and 
without prejudice to the applicable copyright legislation, and encourage 
researchers to retain their copyright  while granting licences to 
publishers;  
 
What changes in Horizon2020? 
 
• Update of Guidelines 
• New clauses in Grant Agreements 
• OA to publications is mandatory for all projects 
• OA to data piloted for 7 selected areas 
• Member States are requested to develop and align 
national OA policies and infrastructures 
Grant Agreement:  29.2 Open access to scientific publications 
 
Each beneficiary must ensure open access (free of charge, online access for any user) to 
all peer-reviewed scientific publications relating to its results. In particular, it must: 
 
(a) as soon as possible and at the latest on publication, deposit a machine-readable 
electronic copy of the published version or final peer-reviewed manuscript accepted for 
publication in a repository for scientific publications; 
Moreover, the beneficiary must aim to deposit at the same time the research data needed to 
validate the results presented in the deposited scientific publications. 
 
(b) ensure open access to the deposited publication — via the repository — at the latest: 
 (i) on publication, if an electronic version is available for free via the publisher, or 
 (ii) within six months of publication (twelve months for publications in the social 
 sciences and humanities) in any other case. 
 
(c) ensure open access — via the repository — to the bibliographic metadata that identify 
the deposited publication. 
The bibliographic metadata must be in a standard format and must include all of the 
following: 
- the terms ["European Union (EU)" and "Horizon 2020"]["Euratom" and Euratom research 
and training programme 2014-2018"]; 
- the name of the action, acronym and grant number; - the publication date, and length of 
embargo period if applicable, and - a persistent identifier. 
What to deposit 
 
• The final peer-reviewed manuscript, accepted for publication, including all 
modifications from the peer review process 
 
OR 
 
• A machine-readable copy of the published version (usually a PDF 
document). 
 
In principle this applies to all kinds of publications, but emphasis is on peer-
reviewed journal articles 
 
Where to deposit 
 
• Institutional repository 
OR 
• Disciplinary repository (arXiv, Europe PubMed Central, etc.) 
OR 
• Zenodo (www.zenodo.org) if none of the above is available – a 
ECcofunded, multidisciplinary repository, for publications & data 
When to deposit 
 
• Each beneficiary must deposit as soon as possible and at the 
latest on publication. 
• Open access must be ensured immediately or after an embargo 
period: 
  GREEN – 6-12 months depending on the research area  
  and the choice of journal 
  GOLD – inmediately 
“…Open access to scientific results and data is a great way to boost 
science, boost the economy, and enable new techniques and 
collaborations between disciplines. Really it's quite simple: it's about 
ensuring you can see the results you've already paid for through your 
taxes….” 
H2020 areas participating in the pilot 
 
• Future and Emerging Technologies 
• Research infrastructures – part e-Infrastructures 
• Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Information 
and Communication Technologies 
• Societal Challenge: 'Secure, Clean and Efficient Energy' – part 
Smart cities and communities 
• Societal Challenge: 'Climate Action, Environment, Resource 
Efficiency and Raw materials' – except raw materials 
• Societal Challenge: 'Europe in a changing world – inclusive, 
innovative and reflective Societies' 
• Science with and for Society 
 
Projects in other areas can participate on a voluntary basis 
Requirements of the open data pilot 
 
 
1. Develop (and update) a Data Management Plan ( deliverable 
within first 6 months) 
2. Deposit in a research data repository 
3. Make it possible for third parties to access, mine, exploit, 
reproduce and disseminate data – free of charge for any user 
4. Provide information on the tools and instruments needed to 
validate the results (or provide the tools) 
Exemptions – reasons for opting out 
 
• If results are expected to be commercially or industrially exploited 
• If participation is incompatible with the need for confidentiality in 
connection with security issues 
• Incompatible with existing rules on the protection of personal data 
• Would jeopardise the achievement of the main aim of the action 
• If the project will not generate / collect any research data 
• If there are other legitimate reason to not take part in the Pilot 
 
Can opt out at proposal stage OR during lifetime of project. 
Should describe issues in the project Data Management Plan 
OA Publication 
Infrastructure 
Open Data 
Infrastructures 
   Covering ‘European Knowledge’ 
Other approaches…….. 
Some examples of different Open Access strategies/ 
approaches 
Supra-national strategy 
  
European Commission 
ERC… 
 
By government funding bodies (national level) 
 
 UK (RCUKs) 
 Portugal (Fundaçao para la Ciência e a Tecnologia, Ministry of 
 Education and Science) 
 
By other funders (public or private, national or international) 
  
 Wellcome Trust, Telethon… 
 
 … 
By legislation/directives 
 
 Spain (Ley de la Ciencia, la Tecnología y la Innovación, Art 37) 
 Italy (Decreto Direttoriale 23 gennaio 2014 n. 197, Art. 9 Open  Access) 
 Peru (Law 1188/2011-CR) 
 Mexico (Ley de Ciencia y Tecnología, de la Ley General de Educación  y 
 de la Ley Orgánica del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. 
 Chapter X) 
 Argentina (Law 26899: Creación de Repositorios Digitales  Institucionales 
 de Acceso Abierto, Propios o Compartidos ) 
 
National global strategy 
 
 Denmark 
 Sweden 
 … 
 
By academic/research institutions (at national or local level) 
 
By international organizations (Unesco, The World Bank, WHO… 
  
Denmark´s National Strategy for Open Access (announced during the 
EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2014 in Copenhagen 
 
Vision 
 
To create free access for all citizens, researchers and companies to all 
research articles from Danish research institutions financed by public 
authorities and/or private foundations. 
To achieve by 2017 via digital archives – repositories – unimpeded, digital 
access for all to 80 per cent of Danish peer-reviewed scientific articles from 
Danish research institutions  published in 2016. 
To achieve from 2022 and onwards unimpeded, digital access for all to 100 per 
cent of all Danish peer-reviewed scientific articles from Danish research 
institutions published from 2021 and onwards. 
 
HOW 
The Minister for Higher Education and Science has set up the 
National Steering Committee   to develop the national strategy based on: 
• Implementation of OA through the GREEN model 
• Open Access is not to take place through legislation, but through 
collaboration between relevant actors 
• Authors retain part of the copyright  
• Monitoring implementation  
Sweden 
Other policies……. 
31 March  2013 
http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/350?q=s350 
Estados Unidos. Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act 
(FASTR) 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-public-access-results-
federally-funded-research 
White House Directive 
Other recommendations 
 
From more European entities 
 
 European Research Advisory Board (EURAB, 11 January 2007)  
European Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs, currently 
Science Europe, 28 January 2008)  
 European Research Council (ERC, 04 January 2007)  
 European University Association (EUA, 27 January 2008)  
 Global Research Council (GRC) endorsed statements concerning “Open 
Access” and “Research Integrity” during the 2nd Annual Global Meeting, 27 
– 29 May 2013, Berlin,  Germany 
http://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/dfg_magazin/internationales/130528_grc_annual_meeting/grc_a
ction_plan_open_access.pdf 
“..increased access to knowledge provides societal benefits to 
many who rely on research results, be it in patient care, be it in 
politics and decision making, be it in entrepreneurship or 
industry, be it in journalism or society at large: there is an 
enormous need for research information outside universities and 
research institutes which can be served best by openly 
accessible research information..”  
Principles for transitioning towards open access  
 
1. In order to increase their return on investments, research councils 
encourage open access to all results from publicly funded research 
which originated from their funding. This relates specifically to journal 
articles. 
 
2. The research councils see it as their responsibility to raise their grantees’ 
awareness and to educate (especially young) researchers regarding the 
importance, the benefits, and the various approaches towards open 
access. 
 
3. Research funders will provide support for their grantees to encourage and 
enable them in making their works openly accessible with suitable means, 
e.g. through open access policies, through addressing copyright, or 
through dedicated open access funding.  
 
Individual policies that are based upon these principles will need to be re-
evaluated on a regular basis to possibly modify and further improve them. 
Such re-evaluation is likely to involve a number of stake-holders, just as the 
development of this Action Plan has involved many stakeholders.  
The value of Research data. Metrics for datasets from a cultural and technical 
point of view. http://www.knowledge-exchange.info/datametrics 
Recommendations targeted at the most important stakeholders involved in the 
promotion and generation of data sharing     
Funders 
 
• Demand and reward data 
sharing activities  
• Consider data metrics in 
assessments  
• Inform about the importance and 
benefits of data sharing  
• Promote open access of data 
 
Research Institutions 
 
• Promote policies of data sharing  
• Promote arguments and incentives 
in favour of data sharing  
• Provide options and alternatives to 
the different types of data sharing 
activities  
• Professionalize staff and 
standardize data sharing activities 
(collection, curation, dissemination)  
LERU (Liegue of European Research Universities ) statements on Open 
Access and Open data   
 
What can universities do? 
• Implement data management policies 
• Create and support technical infrastruture 
• Advocay programmes (how researchers should manage the8r data 
• Work togeher with funders to share infrastructure and best practices 
Compliance….. 
Monitoring Open Access policy 
implementation requires three 
main steps: 
 
• Identify the set of outputs 
are to be audited for 
compliance 
 
• Identify accessible copies of 
the outputs at publisher 
and/or repository sites 
 
• Check whether the 
accessible copies are 
compliant with the policy 
 
April 2008, NIH OA 
mandate  policy 
The NIH Manuscript Submission system allows you to submit an electronic version 
of your peer-reviewed final manuscript for inclusion in PubMed Central.  
Policy is 
strengthned 
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Total manuscripts 
Nature  Vol 508,  10 April 2014 
http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/1.15007!/menu/main/topColumns/topLe
ftColumn/pdf/508161a.pdf 
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 (
%
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Currently Wellcome Trust 
compliance rate is 69% (see 
http://www.nature.com/polopoly
_fs/1.15007!/menu/main/topCol
umns/topLeftColumn/pdf/50816
1a.pdf )  
 
Université de Liège . Insitutional OA mandate since 2007. 
• Immediate deposit  
• Optional access (closed access by imposed embargoes) 
• Only those publications that are in the repository will be considered in any 
evaluation, promotion, grant submission, etc…  
 
“if an Institution does not know what produces, it has a problem” (Bernard 
Rentier, Rector Univ. Liege.  Medoanet Workshop, Braga, February de 
2013) 
http://orbilu.uni.lu/  l'Université du Luxembourg 
Thank you!! 
Hvala! 
Reme 
rmelero@iata.csic.es