Facilitate Open Science Training for European 
Research
Open Data and Open Access
• “Open access to scientific research data enhances data 
quality, reduces the need for duplication of research, 
speeds up scientific progress and helps to combat 
scientific fraud” – European Commission 2012.
• Research data are the data, files, and other records, 
produced in research or that evidence and validate 
research results.
• Open Access to research data is seen as a key activity 
complementary to Open Access to scientific 
publications.
• Open Data policies are still relatively few in number and 
have not been analysed as have Open Access policies, 
but there are some policies in existence, and models and 
guides to creating and implementing them.
What an Open Data policy covers 
(Digital Curation Centre)
•Data: a datasets policy or statement on access to 
and maintenance of electronic resources;
•Time limits: set timeframes for making content 
accessible or preserving research outputs;
•Data plan: requirement to consider data creation, 
management or sharing in the grant application;
•Access/sharing: promotion of OA journals, deposit 
in repositories, data sharing or reuse;
• Long-term curation: stipulations on long-term 
maintenance and preservation of research outputs.
What an Open Data policy covers - 2
•Monitoring: whether compliance is monitored 
or action taken such as withholding funds;
•Guidance: provision of FAQs, best practice 
guides, toolkits, and support staff;
•Repository: provision of a repository to make 
published research outputs accessible;
•Data centre: provision of a data centre to 
curate unpublished electronic resources or data;
•Costs: a willingness to meet publication fees 
and data management / sharing costs.
• http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/
overview-funders-data-policies
The model Open Data policy: the 
RECODE Project
•Open access as default. The policy should set open 
access for research data as the default and mandatory 
requirement and provide appropriate support and 
funding.
• Responsibilities. The policy should assign 
responsibilities and set out the expectations for the 
main stakeholders.
• Target content. The policy should be explicit on 
which data should be open. Open access should be 
required for research data used to validate scientific 
claims in publications.
•Data Management Plan (DMP). The policy should 
require grant applicants who will generate data to 
provide a DMP as the main tool through which to 
address comprehensively data management.
• Time of deposit. The policy should require data 
supporting publications to be made open ideally at the 
latest at the same time with the publications and link 
to it.
The model Open Data policy: the 
RECODE Project - 2
• Locus of deposit. The policy should require deposit in certified 
and trusted repositories and/or data centres.
• Technical specifications to allow reuse. To enable research 
data reuse and citation funders should require information on 
metadata, DOI, interoperability of systems, machine readability 
and mineability and software in the policy.
• Licensing research data. The policy should require that 
research data is accompanied by licensing describing the terms 
of use.
• Provisions for long-term availability. Policies should include 
provisions for the long-term availability of data, since re-use and 
availability are primary reasons for open access to research data.
• Compliance with policy. The policy should make statements 
regarding compliance to it by the researchers and clarify 
measures for non-compliance.
• http://recodeproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/recode_guid
eline_en_web_version_full_FINAL.pdf
What makes an Open Data policy 
effective
• Open Data policies have had too short a life to 
support the type of analysis undertaken by 
PASTEUR4OA on Open Access policies.
• By analogy with the PASTEUR4OA analysis, 
factors that drive effectiveness are:
• Making policies mandatory;
• Insisting on timing of deposit to be at the latest 
when outputs are published;
• Linking to data from publications;
• Technical specifications to enable re-use;
• Clear licensing statements.
Policies of funders
• UK research funders can be seen as global pace-
setters (RECODE)
• DCC provides information on what their policies 
include (
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/policy-and-legal/ov
erview-funders-data-policies),and links to the texts
• All the policies cover data
• Nearly all policies cover policy stipulations 
comprehensively
• Two policies do not cover monitoring
• Levels of support are variable.