The Council of the European University Association (EUA) approved the “Roadmap on Open Access to Research Publications” during its meeting on 29 January 2016. The Roadmap, which aims to assist universities in the transition to Open Access (OA), is the first in a series of initiatives that EUA plans to develop to address the implications of Open Science for European universities.

The Roadmap has been drafted in close collaboration with EUA’s Expert Group on Science 2.0/Open Science, a group of 20 experts from 19 countries designated by their respective national rectors’ conferences (NRCs). The Roadmap is a key element of EUA’s long-term vision to support its members in the transition towards Open Science, also formally endorsed at the 29 January meeting. In this context EUA will tackle, progressively, all the main issues at stake, including research assessment and researchers’ career development, the quality of publications, text and data mining (TDM), copyright, data protection and infrastructure.

The Roadmap on Open Access to Research Publications focuses primarily on the following areas:

•    Fostering structured dialogue among all stakeholders;
•    Promoting and supporting the adoption of OA policies, infrastructures and initiatives by European universities;
•    Encouraging the development and establishment of advanced scientific recognition and research assessment systems;
•    Addressing intellectual property rights and copyright policies for various outputs;
•    Considering alternative and sustainable OA business models;
•    Promoting access, use and sharing of research publications and data, including TDM;
•    Encouraging, supporting and eventually monitoring the establishment of comprehensive standards for institutional OA policies concerning research publications and teaching materials.

According to Professor Jean-Pierre Finance, Council member and Chair of the Expert Group, “EUA has come up with a set of well-defined objectives and priority actions for the university sector that will be taken forward in the coming months. By acting together, European universities will undoubtedly set the pace for progress towards a more open system for the generation of new knowledge through research.”

The EUA Open Access Roadmap to Research Publications comes at a crucial time as there is currently a strong political push towards OA. Just last week, EU ministers responsible for research assembled in an informal meeting in Amsterdam with European Commissioner Carlos Moedas to discuss research issues, including OA. This topic will continue to be high on the European political agenda as the EU Dutch Presidency has identified OA as one of its priority areas. 

Ends

Notes:
To view the “EUA Roadmap on Open Access to Research Publications” please click here.

In an additional step in support of its coming activities on research assessment and research publications, the EUA Council also endorsed a Statement with the purpose to become a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). 

Previous EUA publications in the field:
Recommendations on Open Access (2008)
Briefing paper on Open Access to Research Publications (2014)
EUA’s Open Access checklist for universities (2015) 

For more information please contact: 
Jessica Carter, tel: +32 2 743 11 59; mobile: +32 473 74 87 85; email: jessica.carter@eua.be
or Ulrike Reimann, tel: +32 2 743 11 58; mobile: +32 491 15 89 72; email: ulrike.reimann@eua.be

The European University Association (EUA) is the representative organisation of more than 800 universities in 47 European countries and 36 national rectors’ conferences (NRCs). The Council of EUA is comprised of the President, the members of the Board, and of the presidents of all of Europe’s NRCs. EUA works closely with its members to ensure that the voice of European universities is heard.