EU has published its guidlines for open access to scientific publications and research data.
Open access is defined in the guidelines and two ways to open access are described: self-archiving and publishing in an open access journal. Research today is built on open dialogue and the possibility to improve earlier research. In the guidelines it is stated that open acces will help improve the quality of results, increase efficiency due to collaboration and avoiding double work, innovation is accelerated and it helps to involve citizens and the surrounding society when the research process becomes more transparent.
It is also written in the guidelines that research financed by public money should not be paid for again when someone wants to access research. Research should benefit EU, European corporations and Europeans and therefore European research financed with public funds should be guaranteed open access and long term preservation. The open access mandate only applies on peer reviewed scientific publications but open access is encouraged also to other types of material such as monographs, conference papers, gray literature.
Pieta Eklund