COAR Response To EC Communication And Recommendation

The European Commission has today published its  Conclusion and its Recommendation to Member States on the European Research Area outlining measures to improve access to scientific information produced in Europe based on the acknowledge that a broader and more rapid access to scientific papers and data will make it easier for researchers and businesses to build on the findings of public-funded research.

COAR, the international community of open access repositories, from Europe but also from Japan, India, Latinamerica, USA, China and Canada warmly welcomes the Commission’s approach to define open access to peer-reviewed publications as the general principle in Horizon 2020, through self-archiving (‘Green’ open access) and open access publishing (‘Gold’ open access); to promote open access to research data (experimental results, observations and computer-generated information etc.) and set a pilot framework in Horizon 2020, taking into account legitimate concerns in relation to privacy, commercial interests and questions related to large data volumes; to develop and support e-infrastructures to host and share scientific information (publications and data) which are interoperable on European and global level; and to help researchers to comply with open access obligations and promote a culture of sharing.

COAR acknowledges and very much  supports the open access vision of the EU Commission as a worldwide trend and will join the EU Commission effort  to develop an interoperable and sustainable global scientific infrastructure and to inspire other countries in the world to develop their own open access policies.