Petition for guaranteed public access to publicly-funded research results
To support for free and open access to European research and for the recommendations proposed in the EU's 'Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe', sign this petition.
Dear Commissioner,
Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only
half complete if the information is not made widely and readily
available to society. Berlin Declaration, October 2003
In January 2006 the European Commission published the Study on the
Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets
of Europe. The Study resulted from a detailed analysis of the current
scholarly journal publication market, together with extensive
consultation with all the major stakeholders within the scholarly
communication process (researchers, funders, publishers, librarians,
research policymakers, etc.). The Study noted that 'dissemination and
access to research results is a pillar in the development of the
European Research Area' and it made a number of balanced and reasonable
recommendations to improve the visibility and usefulness of European
research outputs.
Now, a year after publication of the Study, we urge the EC to
endorse the recommendations in full. In particular, we encourage you to
adopt the first recommendation as a matter of urgency:
RECOMMENDATION A1. GUARANTEE PUBLIC ACCESS TO PUBLICLY-FUNDED RESEARCH RESULTS SHORTLY AFTER PUBLICATION
Research funding agencies have a central role in determining
researchers' publishing practices. Following the lead of the NIH and
other institutions, they should promote and support the archiving of
publications in open repositories, after a (possibly domain-specific)
time period to be discussed with publishers. This archiving could
become a condition for funding.
The following actions could be taken at the European level: (i)
Establish a European policy mandating published articles arising from
EC-funded research to be available after a given time period in open
access archives, and (ii) Explore with Member States and with European
research and academic associations whether and how such policies and
open repositories could be implemented.
Research must be widely disseminated and read to be useful. Adopting
Recommendation A1 will immediately ensure the widest possible
readership for EC-funded research, increasing the potential benefits
resulting from the research, and promoting European scholarship both
within Europe and beyond. Evidence is accumulating to indicate that
research that is openly accessible is read more and used more and that
open access to research findings would bring economic advantage across
the European Research Area. The Commission has a unique opportunity to
place Europe at the forefront of the dissemination of research outputs
and we encourage you to adopt the Study recommendations for the benefit
of European research.
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