UKRI updates guidance for open access policy

From 1 January 2024, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s new open access policy will apply to monographs, book chapters and edited collections

The open access policy applied since April 2022 for peer-reviewed research articles acknowledging UKRI funding.

The policy aims to ensure that findings from research UKRI funds with public money can be accessed and built on by the research and innovation community and wider society.

New guidance

UKRI has published the following information to support UKRI-funded authors and research organisations to follow the new policy:

guidance for researchers about our long-form open access requirements
updated UKRI open access policy, including new guidance on using long-form policy exemptions
information about UKRI’s dedicated long-form open access fund and other open access implementation updates
updated guidance on accessing long-form open access funding before 2024
updates to frequently asked questions about the policy, including the use of UKRI open access funding for transformative journals

Open access is less established for books and while open access is preferred there may be instances when open access publication is not feasible. Please refer to the guidance about when and how to apply one of the defined exemptions.

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UKRI’s open access policy, a year on | Research Information

Caren Milloy outlines the policy’s impact and the work that made it happen

The launch of the UKRI’s OA policy in April 2022 marked an important waypoint on the journey to open access.

The policy provided a steer for how publicly funded research should be shared, reused, and built upon for the benefit of wider society. For Jisc, it aligned perfectly with our work with the sector to enable open access to UK research and to save the sector time and money.

 

Laakso & Multas (2023) European scholarly journals from small- and mid-size publishers: mapping journals and public funding mechanisms | Science and Public Policy

Mikael Laakso, Anna-Maija Multas, European scholarly journals from small- and mid-size publishers: mapping journals and public funding mechanisms, Science and Public Policy, 2023;, scac081, https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scac081

Abstract:This study investigates the relationship between scholarly journal publishing and public funding, specifically concerning the context of small- and mid-sized journal publishers in European countries. As part of the movement towards open science, an increasing number of journals globally are free to both read and publish in, which increases the need for journals to seek other resources instead of subscription income. The study includes two separate components, collecting data separately for each European country (including transcontinental states): (1) the volume and key bibliometric characteristics of small- and mid-sized journal publishers and (2) information about country-level public funding mechanisms for scholarly journals. The study found that there are 16,387 journals from small- and mid-sized publishers being published in European countries, of which 36?per cent are already publishing open access. There is a large diversity in how countries reserve and distribute funds to journals, ranging from continuous inclusive subsidies to competitive grant funding or nothing at all.

 

 

open.science.gov – Your Gateway to U.S. Federal Science

“Open Science is the principle and practice of making research products and processes available to all, while respecting diverse cultures, maintaining security and privacy, and fostering collaborations, reproducibility, and equity. Federal agencies are celebrating 2023 as a Year of Open Science, a multi-agency initiative across the federal government to spark change and inspire open science engagement through events and activities that will advance adoption of open, equitable, and secure science….”

“…Science.gov is the U.S. contribution to WorldWideScience.org, which provides access to science information from more than 70 nations…”

Portugal National Funder FCT Agrees Transformative Agreement with Elsevier

“Elsevier, a global leader in research publishing and information analytics has entered into a transformative agreement with b-on to enable continued reading access for researchers affiliated with b-on institutions and open access publishing. This is the first time Elsevier has signed a transformative agreement to support Portugal. It will benefit the member institutions with access to Elsevier’s extensive collection of journals on ScienceDirect. The cost of publishing open access is covered under the terms of this agreement up to a pre-set annual cap. When publishing open access in hybrid journals, eligible corresponding authors do not have to pay an article publishing charge (APC). The new three-year contract will run until 31st October 2024.

Joana Novais, Manager of the b-on Consortium said: “This agreement lays an important stepping stone in the direction of Open Access in Portugal. It is a great honour for b-on to be able to contribute to this transition to OA by providing the authors of its member institutions the possibility to publish an annual average of 2000 OA articles in hybrid journals without incremental costs.”

The b-on Consortium was founded in 2004 and represents 64 institutions, mainly higher education and research institutions across Portugal. It is managed by FCCN, a unit of FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology….”

It’s time for Canada to adopt open access for taxpayer-funded research too — University Affairs

“Earlier this year, U.S. President Joe Biden’s government announced that all academic articles that are the result of taxpayer-funded research shall be made immediately available to the public at no cost, starting at the end of 2025. This spotlights a pivotal moment in academic affairs, and sets the stage for further action from us: Canadian academics and policymakers. While this is good news to those in the academic communities, it should be good news to the public taxpayer as well. From academics, to policymakers, and even those who are not directly involved in research, why should we care about the current state of affairs when it comes to how openly we share our work? …

Canada’s three major research agencies, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council have encouraged open access, but have not taken action on mandating immediate open access for publication of routine research. Even with the establishment of the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications, there is little enforcement of this policy, with Canadian researchers often declining to delegate scarce funding resources to cover the additional cost associated with open-access publishing, or certain publishers unwilling to allow final versions of their articles to be uploaded to open-access repositories….”

Job: Programme Leader Citizen Science / Societal Engagement (end of play: Jan 07, 2023) | NWO

English translation via gTranslate, original posting at: https://www.nwo.nl/vacatures/programmaleider-citizen-science/societal-engagement

Do you have a passion for Open Science? Are you that ambitious connector and director with a clear vision of how Citizen Science and Public Engagement will lead to a more open, inclusive and participatory scientific practice? Then this vacancy at NWO is for you.

Minister Dijkgraaf recently announced extra investments so that Open Science really becomes the standard in scientific research in the coming years. NWO has been asked to coordinate this by setting up a temporary Open Science directing body, following the example of other directing bodies at NWO, such as SIA and NRO. A budget of € 20 million per year is available for this for the next 10 years. The coordinating body will work closely with universities, medical centres, universities of applied sciences and service organizations such as SURF, DANS, 4TUdata and the university libraries.

Making data, publications and other research products openly available alone is not enough to realize the transition to Open Science. Citizen Science and Societal Engagement contribute to making the research process itself more open, inclusive and participatory by involving social partners, including citizens. As a Citizen Science / Societal Engagement program leader, you have an important role in realizing that more open, inclusive and participatory scientific practice in which citizens and social parties are also part of the scientific process. You are the connector, director and inspirer in this area. You have a clear vision of the importance and needs of Citizen Science and Societal Engagement. You are the pivot in the web of the Dutch community or you can demonstrate that you can quickly acquire that position. You organize meetings and contribute to the development of policy and subsidy instruments so that Citizen Science and Societal Engagement become even more firmly anchored in the Dutch research landscape in the coming years.  

 

In practice it means that you:

are responsible for the development of a Citizen Science / Societal Engagement program line along the lines of the ambitions formulated in the NPOS;
together with your colleagues, translate these ambitions into funding instruments and organize them in such a way that applicants (institutions and researchers) are challenged to make innovative proposals;
acts as community manager of the wider community in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement, contributes to activities to connect parties and stimulate cooperation, eg by organizing meetings or workshops;
closely monitors developments in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement, identifies new developments and places them on the agenda;
act as secretary in the project proposal review process;
are responsible for the further development, implementation and evaluation of NWO policy in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement in line with the strategic principles of NWO, and ensure coordination within NWO;
builds and maintains a relevant (inter)national network with organizations in this field.

You bring this

demonstrable experience and affinity with the broader Open Science agenda and a real drive to make Open Science the norm;
several years of work experience in the implementation and development of science policy, preferably in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement;
an infectious enthusiasm for the potential of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement to make the scientific process more open, inclusive and participatory;
a convincing vision of the position of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement within the broader Open Science agenda and what is needed to promote that development in the Netherlands;
excellently able to organize, inspire and enthuse the community;
attention to and insight into (in)formal relationships, positions and interests within and outside NWO and the capacity to respond adequately to these;
an independent work attitude in which you also function well in a team, with a sense of proportion;
good communication skills, both orally and in writing in Dutch and English;
experience in maintaining contacts and cooperation in science and with representative national organizations such as UNL, NFU, SURF, KNAW; 
knowledge of grant processes at NWO or other financiers or the willingness to develop them;
a completed academic education.

You recognize yourself in the core values ??of NWO: involved, reliable, connecting and groundbreaking. 

This is where you come to work

The Open Science governing body is in the starting blocks and currently consists of a quartermaster/director and 2 policy officers. In the coming year, th

Job: Program leader FAIR / Open data (end of play: Jan 07, 2023) | NWO

Translation via gTranslate, original posting: https://www.nwo.nl/vacatures/programmaleider-fair/open-data

Do you have a passion for Open Science? Are you that ambitious connector and director and do you want to actively contribute to Open Science so that FAIR / open research data really become the norm in the coming years? Then this vacancy at NWO is for you. Apply and become part of our team!

Minister Dijkgraaf recently announced extra investments so that Open Science really becomes the standard in scientific research in the coming years. NWO has been asked to coordinate this by setting up a temporary Open Science directing body, following the example of other directing bodies at NWO, such as SIA and NRO. A budget of € 20 million per year is available for this for the next 10 years. The coordinating body will work closely with universities, medical centres, universities of applied sciences and service organizations such as SURF, DANS, 4TUdata and the university libraries.

Although much has happened in recent years to implement open / FAIR sharing of data, there are still major challenges. These are largely cultural in nature: the awareness and adoption by researchers of FAIR practices through training and information and the great need to support this through well-trained data stewards. There are also major technical challenges in making research data interoperable and reusable. Involvement of science is essential in this, as is the connection with international developments, including the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). As a FAIR / Open data program leader, you have an important role in driving these developments. You have an overview of the complex Dutch data landscape and a vision of how it should develop. You know how to connect and inspire organizations. In addition, you have an eye for the different data cultures between disciplines and you are demonstrably capable of working with respect for those differences on the development of policies, tools and practices to promote open and FAIR research data in the Netherlands.

 

In practice it means that you:

are responsible for the development of an open / FAIR research data program line along the lines of the ambitions formulated in the NPOS;
together with your colleagues, translate these ambitions into funding instruments and organize them in such a way that applicants (institutions and researchers) are challenged to make innovative proposals;
acts as the community manager of the Dutch Open / FAIR data community, contributes to activities to connect parties and stimulate collaboration, eg by organizing meetings or workshops;
closely monitors developments in the field of Open / FAIR data, identifies new developments and places them on the agenda;
act as secretary in the project proposal review process;
are responsible for the further development, implementation and evaluation of NWO’s FAIR data policy in line with NWO’s strategic principles, and ensure coordination within NWO and with external parties;
builds and maintains the international network with organizations in this field, including fellow funding councils , the European Commission and relevant infrastructures in this field.

You bring this

??????

demonstrable experience and affinity with the broader Open Science agenda and a real drive to make Open Science the norm;
several years of work experience in the specific field of Open / FAIR data, for example at one of the Dutch service providers in this field;
a convincing vision of the future of the FAIR data landscape in the Netherlands and beyond;
a relevant national and international network and good reputation in the FAIR data community;
excellently capable of inspiring, connecting and enthusing that community;
attention to and insight into (in)formal relationships, positions and interests within and outside NWO and the capacity to respond adequately to these;
an independent work attitude in which you also function well in a team, with a sense of proportion;
good communication skills, both orally and in writing in Dutch and English;
experience in maintaining contacts and cooperation in science and with representative national organizations such as UNL, NFU, SURF, KNAW. 
knowledge of grant processes at NWO or other financiers or the willingness to develop them;
a completed academic education. 

You recognize yourself in the core values ??of NWO: involved, reliable, connecting and groundbreaking. 

This is where you come to work

The Open Science governing body is in the starting blocks and currently consists of a quartermaster/director and 2 policy officers. In the coming year, this team will further expand to a team of a maximum of 10 employees (program leaders, program employees and support staff)

Job: Programme leader Open Scholarly Communication (end of play: Jan 07, 2023) | NWO

Do you have a passion for Open Science? Are you that ambitious connector and director and do you want to actively contribute to making Open Access and Open Science truly the norm in the coming years? Then this vacancy at NWO is for you. Apply and become part of our team!

Minister Dijkgraaf recently announced extra investments so that Open Science really becomes the standard in scientific research in the coming years. NWO has been asked to coordinate this by setting up a temporary Open Science directing body, following the example of other directing bodies at NWO, such as SIA and NRO. A budget of € 20 million per year is available for this for the next 10 years. The coordinating body will work closely with universities, medical centres, universities of applied sciences and service organizations such as SURF, DANS, 4TUdata and the university libraries.

Now that the goal of 100% Open Access to scientific articles in the Netherlands is within reach, new challenges are emerging. How do we extend Open Access to other publication types? How do we arrive at more transparent, cost-effective and equitable publication models in which the academic community is less dependent on market parties? And: how do we ensure that all that contentnot only Open Access but also actually accessible to the wider society? As a program leader, you have an important role in stimulating these innovations. You are the connector, director and inspirer in this area. You have a clear vision on the development of the scientific communication system. You have a good reputation in the Dutch Open Access community or can demonstrably build it up quickly. You are actively committed to continuing to work with that community, libraries and other organizations to renew that landscape towards a more open system of scientific publishing and thus to the full transition to Open Science.

 

In practice it means that you:

are responsible for the development of a program line “towards open scholarly communication” along the lines of the ambitions formulated in the NPOS;
together with your colleagues, translate these ambitions into funding instruments and organize them in such a way that applicants (institutions and researchers) are challenged to make innovative proposals;
acts as the community manager of the wider Dutch community in the field, contributes to activities to connect parties and stimulate cooperation, eg by organizing meetings or workshops;
keeps a close eye on developments in the field of Open Access, identifies new developments and puts them on the agenda;
act as secretary in the project proposal review process;
are responsible for the further development, implementation and evaluation of the Open Access policy of NWO in line with the strategic principles of NWO, and ensure coordination within NWO and with external parties;
builds and maintains the international network with organizations in this field, including fellow funding councils , the European Commission, libraries, publishers and relevant Open Science infrastructures.

You bring this

demonstrable experience and affinity with the broader Open Science agenda and a real drive to make Open Science the norm;
several years of work experience in the specific field of Open Access at a scientific institution or publisher;
a convincing vision of the future of the academic publishing landscape;
a relevant national and international network in the Open Access community;
excellently capable of inspiring, connecting and enthusing that community;
attention to and insight into (in)formal relationships, positions and interests within and outside NWO and the capacity to respond adequately to these;
an independent work attitude in which you also function well in a team, with a sense of proportion;
good communication skills, both orally and in writing in Dutch and English;
experience in maintaining contacts and cooperation in science and with representative national organizations such as UNL, UKB, NFU, SURF, KNAW;
knowledge of grant processes at NWO or other financiers or the willingness to develop them;
a completed academic education. 

You recognize yourself in the core values ??of NWO: involved, reliable, connecting and groundbreaking. 

This is where you come to work

The Open Science governing body is in the starting blocks and currently consists of a quartermaster/director and 2 policy officers. In the coming year, this team will further expand to a team of a maximum of 10 employees (program leaders, program employees and support staff). We are working towards an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and ambitious team that has the drive to accelerate the transition to Open Science and really make it the norm. As the steering body, we will work closely with all organizations active in the field of Open Science in the Netherlands. As

Förderung von Projekten zur Etablierung einer gelebtenOpen-Access-Kultur in der deutschen Forschungs- und Wissenschaftspraxis | Bundesanzeiger

Mit dieser Richtlinie treibt das BMBF weiterhin aktiv den Wandel wissenschaftlichen Publizierens hin zu mehr Open Access voran und unterstützt die Wissenschaft bei ihren Bestrebungen. Das BMBF zielt mit dieser Maßnahme auf die Etablierung einer umfassenden, da gemeinsam gelebten und in Kollaboration gestalteten Open-Access-Kultur in allen Bereichen von Forschung und Wissenschaft ab. In dieser Kultur soll Open Access immanenter Bestandteil des wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisprozesses selbst sein und zugleich zur Förderung gesellschaftlicher Teilhabe beitragen. Um eine in der Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft gelebte Open-Access-Kultur zu etablieren, werden unter dieser Richtlinie Projekte gefördert, die nachhaltige Finanzierungsmodelle und die verbesserte Anerkennung und Bewertung von Open Access ins Zentrum stellen sowie vielfältige Bedarfe einer Open-Access-Kultur aufgreifen.Übergeordnetes Ziel der Richtlinie ist es, einen Beitrag dazu zu leisten, dass die Anzahl der im Open-Access-Publikationsformat erscheinenden Forschungsergebnisse nach Beendigung der Förderperiode weiter merklich erhöht wird. Ein weiteres Ziel ist die Etablierung mehrerer nachhaltiger wissenschaftsgetragener Finanzierungsmodelle für Open Access, die so angelegt sind, dass sie mindestens zwei Jahre nach Beendigung der Förderperiode noch Bestand haben. Zudem zielt die Maßnahme auf die Erhöhung der Anerkennung von Open Access ab. Hierzu sollen Forschungslücken geschlossen werden und nach Abschluss der Förderperiode mehrere Forschungsarbeiten veröffentlicht werden. Außerdem sollen in mehreren Institutionen Prozesse zur Etablierung einer Open-Access-Kultur initiiert werden. Ein weiteres Ziel der Richtlinie ist schließlich die Erhöhung der verfügbaren Werkzeuge, Services oder Infrastrukturen für die Unterstützung der Etablierung von Open Access.1.2?ZuwendungszweckDas BMBF fördert mit dieser Richtlinie Vorhaben entlang von drei Themenschwerpunkten:–    In Themenfeld 1 (finanzielle Etablierung) werden Vorhaben gefördert, deren Ziel die Entwicklung, Erprobung und Etablierung von wissenschaftsgetragenen Finanzierungsmodellen ist.–    In Themenfeld 2 (institutionelle und soziokulturelle Etablierung) werden Vorhaben gefördert, die sich auf die Erforschung und Erhöhung der Anerkennung von Open Access in der Wissenschaft konzentrieren.–    In Themenfeld 3 (offenes Förderfeld) werden Vorhaben gefördert, die die vielfältigen Bedarfe einer Open-Access-Kultur aufgreifen und damit zur Erreichung der Ziele der Förderrichtlinie beitragen.

Five principles for monitoring and evaluation: The case of UKRI’s Open Access policy | Research Consulting

by Andrea Chiarelli

Between August and November 2022, almost 80 individuals from across the research and publishing landscape contributed to a study we delivered on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to support the development of a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for their Open Access (OA) policy.

The framework will help UKRI and the sector assess open access progress, levels of compliance with the policy and its effectiveness. It will also seek to establish insights into open access publication trends across the UK and, where possible, their impact on academic practices and society.

We are in the process of finalising project outputs for public dissemination alongside our associates Bianca Kramer and Cameron Neylon, but we are now in a position to share some high-level findings and next steps. This blog covers five key principles we identified from our discussions with the research and publishing communities, as well as considering the implications for UKRI’s future M&E efforts.

 

White House moves on public access to research | Campus Morning Mail

by Ginny Barbour

In a substantial game-changing move for open access globally, the US White House issued guidance last week that peer reviewed publicly funded research must be made immediately and freely available.

It builds on similar guidance in 2013 from the Obama administration that mandated federally funded research must be made available no later than 12 months after publication and also reflects previous priorities of the then Vice President Biden when in 2016 he launched the Cancer Moonshot. The language of the memorandum reflects many years of advocacy in the US, noting the positive role that access to research has in supporting equity and public trust in government science. The language makes clear that this is not open access for its own sake, but to support public access to research.

The guidance applies to around 400 US federal agencies that must now “update their public access policies as soon as possible, and no later than December 31st, 2025, to make publications and their supporting data resulting from federally funded research publicly accessible without an embargo on their free and public release.” Furthermore, the agencies must: “establish transparent procedures that ensure scientific and research integrity is maintained in public access policies;” and “coordinate with (the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy) to ensure equitable delivery of federally funded research results and data.”

The mechanism for making the research available is quite explicit: federal agencies are to develop plans that ensure “Peer Reviewed Scholarly Publications … are made freely available and publicly accessible by default in agency-designated repositories without any embargo or delay after publication.”  In addition, “Scientific Data underlying peer-reviewed scholarly publications resulting from federally funded research should be made freely available and publicly accessible by default at the time of publication”. The extension of open principles to data will bolster transparency in research.

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CoNOSC – Council for National Open Science Coordination

“On 21 October 2019, in Helsinki, France, the Netherlands and Finland invited representatives of the ERAC countries to discuss the creation of a network of open science coordination. The program of the day is included. Twenty-one countries were present, as well as the European Union. Participants agreed that it was necessary to create such a network to enable the coordination of national efforts in the field of open science.

The objectives and organizational principles of this network, which we have named ‘Council for National Open Science Coordination’ (CoNOSC), are specified in the attached Memorandum of Understanding. Here is the summary:

 

 

– CoNOSC helps to fill  in the gaps in national open science coordination.

– CoNOSC will provide a valuable insights through the dialogue with other international partners.

– CoNOSC membership is in principle open to all countries within the European Research Area….”

View of The UGC-CARE initiative: Indian academia’s quest for research and publishing integrity | First Monday

Abstract:  This paper discusses the reasons for emergence of predatory publications in India, engendered by mandates of higher educational institutions: that require stipulated number of research publications for employment and promotions. Predatory journals have eclipsed the merits of open access publishing, compromised ethical practices, and left the research community groping for benchmarks of research integrity and publication ethics. To fight back the menace of predatory publications, University Grants Commission, India has established “Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics” (UGC-CARE) in 2018 to promote and benchmark research integrity and publication ethics among the Indian academia. The present paper discusses the UGC-CARE initiative, its structure, objectives and specifically, “UGC-CARE Reference List of Quality Journals” (UGC-CARE list) and finally, the challenges it faces.