ALLEA reiterates its support for Open Access to Scientific Publications in Europe

In November 2013, ALLEA issued a Statement on the Enhancement of Open Access to Scientific Publications in Europe. The recent developments at national level, in particular in the Netherlands, offer a good opportunity for ALLEA to reiterate its support for the Open Access model in a follow-up statement to the original document (accessible via the above link).

With the Internet, it is now possible to share the research results at a low cost throughout the world, including in more remote or less developed regions. The results of publicly funded research should be made freely accessible online. Open Access publications can more easily be identified and are thus read and quoted more often. Open Access publishing is beneficial to science and researchers, but as well to the users, the public and society as a whole.

Both the green and the gold routes to Open Access should be envisaged taking into account the specificities of the various academic fields (natural sciences vis-à-vis humanities and social sciences).

It is advisable that authorities define targets for the implementation of an Open Access policy. The transition to an Open Access model should be supported by the authorities.

For the transition to succeed, researchers should be aware of the advantages of Open Access. They should advocate the conversion of publishers towards an Open Access model when they are involved in the publishing process, whether as author, reviewer or member of editorial boards.

ALLEA thus supports all the attempts to work out a balanced solution in favour of Open Access, and in particular the negotiations between the academic community and the publishers that take place in various countries.

This follow-up statement was issued by the ALLEA Permanent Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights in March 2015.

To download the follow-up statement as a PDF, please click here.