Open Science

Why Open Science

Open Science is defined by the European Commission as “an approach to the scientific process that focuses on spreading knowledge as soon as it is available using digital and collaborative technology.” It advocates the elimination of barriers that prevent access to the results of scientific research, mostly financed with public funds, and constitutes an alternative to the most widespread system of access to research results in the world, based on the payment of high subscription fees to scientific journals paid by universities and research centres. The benefits of implementing Open Science are many. Open Science policy has developed progressively in the EU, and since 2016 focuses on eight ambitions, amongst them are the FAIR and open data sharing by default for the results of EU-funded research.

Demanded by the public funders

Open Science is a policy priority for the European Commission and the standard method of working under its research and innovation funding programmes as it improves the quality, efficiency and responsiveness of research. That is why the Commission requires beneficiaries of research and innovation funding (Horizon 2020 and next Horizon Europe Programmes) to make their publications available in open access and make their data as open as possible and as closed as necessary. National and regional policies similarly require Open Access to scientific results.

How can I provide Open Access to my research?

In the case of scientific publications, generally it is possible to deposit the version that has not yet undergone peer review. The aim of the open access movement is not to dispense with the peer review process that guarantees, a priori, the quality of a scientific publication, and this is why papers that have not been peer-reviewed should be clearly labelled as pre-prints.
The post-print version, i.e. the peer-reviewed version of an article, or the version of the publisher (PDF), may be deposited in a repository in some cases. It is advisable to read the copyright and self-archiving policy of the scientific journal to which the article is submitted.
The effective linking of open science practices to innovation and business models requires careful consideration of issues such as Intellectual Property Rights, licensing agreements, interoperability and reuse of data. It does not interfere with the decision to commercially exploit research results (e.g. patenting), because the obligation to deposit in open access occurs once the decision to publish has been taken.

Does my funder support the costs for Open Access?

Making your research open access does not have to cost anything. There are several routes for complying with the funder’s Open Access mandates. By depositing your articles in a repository or finding an open access journal that does not charge APCs, you can provide open access for free. However, under H2020 APCs are eligible costs for reimbursement for the duration of the grant agreement. You should already include costs for open access publishing in the budget of your project proposal.

References

• https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/strategy/strategy-2020-2024/our-digital-future/open-science_en
• https://recolecta.fecyt.es/faqs
• Open Science Training Handbook and Glossary: https://open-science-training-handbook.gitbook.io/book/glossary.