(5 July 2016) Supported by the European Commission (EC) under its 7th Framework Program, PASTEUR4OA (Open Access Policy Alignment Strategies for European Union Research) project aims to help Member Nations develop policies to ensure open access to publicly funded research output.
As part of the project, a strong advocacy program has been developed. Over 50 advocacy materials (c. 450 pages) covering various aspects of Open Access (OA) have been issued. Among them are the two toolkits, one for research performing organizations (RPOs), the other for research funders.
Toolkits include more than 10 briefing papers and resources to help both RPOs and research funders develop and reinforce their OA polices as well as align them with that of EC’s Horizon 2020 (H2020) Program. All papers and resources were written and peer-reviewed by OA experts. Some papers deal with concepts such as openness and Open Access to research output including research data. Others provide practical information for RPOs and research funders on policy development, implementation and effectiveness along with policy guidelines, checklists, templates and case studies. Some resources are also available in other languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish.
What follows is the list of titles of resources available in the two toolkits for RPOs and research funders:
“How Open is Your Research?” by David Ball (April 2016, 4pp.) A questionnaire for institutions to survey and assess the openness of their research output as well as the level of OA awareness of their researchers.
“Briefing Paper: Open Access” by Meg Hunt and Alma Swan (September 2015, 6pp.) (also available in Hungarian). An introductory paper on OA and OA concepts (e.g., green vs. gold OA, libre OA, gratis OA, among others).
“PASTEUR4OA Briefing Paper: Open Access to Research Data” by Marieke Guy and Lieke Ploeger (November 2015, 11pp.). A briefing paper on the state of the art of OA to research data.
“Open Access Policy Typology: A Briefing Paper for Research Institutions” by Meg Hunt and Alma Swan (September 2015, 4pp.). A typology of OA policies in the world with an emphasis on what makes them strong or weak.
“Practical Information for Research Performing Organisations on Policy Development, Implementation, Effectiveness and Alignment” by Mafalda Picarra (October 2015, 5pp.) (Also available in French and Turkish). A list of relevant criteria along with an outline of OA policy elements that contributes to policy effectiveness.
“Open Access Policy Guidelines for Research Performing Organisations” by Victoria Tsoukala and Marina Angelaki (September 2015, 10pp.) (Also available in French, Portuguese, Slovak and Turkish).
“Open Access Policy Guidelines and Template for Funders” by Victoria Tsoukala and Marina Angelaki (September 2015, 12pp.) (Also available in French, Slovak, Spanish and Turkish). Detailed papers providing context for open access to publicly funded research output as well as policy templates and policy implementation checklists for RPOs and research funders, respectively.
“Open Access Policy Effectiveness: A Briefing Paper for Research Institutions” by Alma Swan (September 2015, 5pp.) (Also available in French, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish and Turkish).
“Open Access Policy Effectiveness: A Briefing Paper for Research Funders” by Alma Swan (September 2015, 5pp.) (Also available in French, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish and Turkish). An analysis of 120 mandatory OA policies with a view to identifying the most effective clauses that help populate the institutional repositories of RPOs with open access resources and increase the compliance rate (i.e., immediate deposit with no waiver, and link between deposit and research evaluation).
“OA Policy Alignment Checklist” (2pp.) (Also available in French, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish and Turkish). A questionnaire for institutions to assess the alignment of their OA policies with that of the European Commission.
“Monitoring Compliance with Open Access Policies” by Mafalda Picarra (Secember 2015, 14pp.) (Also available in Portuguese). A briefing paper to highlight why RPOs and research funders should monitor policy compliance and how they can do it.
The announcement is here.
