The Open Access Committee’s recommendations
The Open Access Committee has chosen to base their work on the Council of the European Union’ conclusions (appendix 2) and has prepared 14 recommendations within the three main areas where the EU countries are expected to work with Open Access. The main areas are:
- Reinforce national strategies and structures for access to and dissemination of scientific information
- Enhance co-ordination between the member states of policies and practice regarding access and dissemination
- Ensure long-term preservation of scientific information, including publications and data as well as paying due regard to scientific information in national preservation strategies
Main area 1: Reinforce national strategies and structures for access to and dissemination of scientific information
The first main area has to do with determination of national strategies and structures for access to and dissemination of scientific information. Clear policies for scientific publishing must be prepared, information secured, researchers’ copyrights handled, technical infrastructure must be established and the main stakeholders must be included in the debate about strategy. All subjects are necessary prerequisites for Denmark being able to ensure that publicly funded scientific results are made available as far as at all possible.
Assignment 1.1: Defining clear policies for dissemination and access to scientific information, including the associated financial planning
In the Council of the European Union’ conclusions the membership countries are first of all encouraged to develop national strategies for dissemination and access to scientific information. It is vital that the state has a very definite attitude to and policy regarding Open Access. That is due to the challenges associated with a new national publishing strategy, the importance of free access to scientific publishing and the need for European and international cooperation. A national Open Access policy ought as a minimum to deal with the subjects Open Access, copyright, investment in the dissemination of research results, repositories and interoperability, long-term preservation as well as address the questions of stakeholders and cooperation with these. These reflections are the basis for the Open Access Committee’s recommendation number 1: National Open Access policy is established by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
Universities and research councils have a crucial role in ensuring demand for free access to research results across all subject areas. It is therefore necessary that The Danish Council for Independent Research, The Danish Council for Strategic Research, The Danish National Research Foundation, The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation and The Danish Council for Technology and Innovation develop Open Access policies which are coordinated with the national policy and strategy. The strategy must be implemented in such a way as to consider the interests of researchers and research. This is the basis for recommendation number 2: Research Councils and foundations establish Open Access policies.
The universities must ensure local Open Access policies and the necessary technical solutions. This is the basis for recommendation number 3: Universities and other research institutions establish Open Access policies.
The bibliometric research indicator stems from the Globalisation Strategy’s aim that the quality of public research should measure up to the best in the world. The bibliometric research indicator aims to further publishing in the most distinguished publishing channels and strengthen the quality of Danish research.9 The indicator brings increasing influence to bear on the universities’ initiatives as to registration of their research publications. The continued development of the bibliometric research indicator ought to be coordinated with the national Open Access policy. This is the basis for recommendation number 4: The bibliometric research indicator is coordinated with the national Open Access policy.
| Recommendation 1 |
National Open Access policy is established by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation The Open Access Committee recommends that a national Open Access policy be formulated, which includes all institutions that do research and/or disseminate research based on total or partial public funding. The basic view is that as far as possible there should be free access to the results of publicly funded research. |
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| Recommendation 2 |
Research Councils and foundations establish Open Access policies The Open Access Committee recommends that all research councils and foundations implement Open Access policies that live up to the national Open Access policy. |
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| Recommendation 3 |
Universities and other research institutions establish Open Access policies The Open Access Committee recommends that all universities and research institutions establish Open Access policies that meet the requirements of the national Open Access policy. |
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| Recommendation 4 |
The bibliometric research indicator should be coordinated with the national Open Access policy The Open Access Committee recommends that the National Agency for Research and Innovation in connection with evaluation of the bibliometric indicator consider how the indicator can be coordinated with the national Open Access policy. |
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Assignment 1.2: Promoting through these policies, access through the Internet to the results of publicly financed research at no cost to the reader, taking into consideration economically sustainable ways of doing this including delayed Open Access
All universities have local research databases where the university’s research publications are registered and disseminated. At national level all universities’ data are harvested to The Danish Research Database, which is a common access point to dissemination of Danish research. Via The Danish Research Database Danish research results also become visible to the international public, e.g. via Google Scholar and DRIVER.10
By building on this existing technical infrastructure it can in a simple way be guaranteed that publicly funded research becomes freely and easily available to all users. This requires a further development of the common national portal and a strengthened dissemination initiative. This is the background for recommendation number 5: Establishment of common Internet access to Danish research results.
As the universities to a greater extent begin to store the research publications in full text in the local repositories, the need increases for the universities to be able to draw on long-term preservation services. In Denmark such services are provided by the two legal deposit libraries, the State and University Library and The Royal Library. To ensure access over a long period of time there is thus a connection with recommendation 12 under main area 3 concerning long-term preservation.
The point of departure is that all results of public funded research must be freely available. It should be examined more closely what this means for the Danish scientific publishers, and how to help them convert to Open Access.
Danish publishers deal mainly with the publishing of monographs in Danish within humanistic and social disciplines. Such publications present a specific economic challenge, as they, as a rule, are dependent on direct grants. This is the background for recommendation number 6: Danish scientific publishers prepare discussion paper on a transition to Open Access.
| Recommendation 5 |
Establishment of common Internet access to Danish research results The Open Access Committee recommends that demands be made in public research grants for all Danish publicly funded research to be made available in the universities’ research databases and via a new common Internet portal, which disseminates the collective research results with clear indication/ accrediting of the individual university. |
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Danish scientific publishers prepare discussion paper on transition to Open Access The Open Access Committee recommends that Danish scientific publishers be invited to prepare proposals as to how Danish periodicals and Danish monographs respectively can be converted to Open Access. |
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Assignment 1.3: Assessing in a systematic way conditions affecting access to scientific information, including – the way in which researchers excercise their copyright to scientific articles, - the level of investments in dissemination of scientific information as compared to the total investments in research, - the use of financial mechanisms to improve the access, such as refunding VAT for digital journal subscriptions to libraries
Basically it is the individual researcher who holds the copyright to his own publications. The researchers’ copyrights must be handled in a way that is consistent with an Open Access policy. A targeted effort and counselling in relation to the individual researcher is therefore necessary in order to ensure that all rights are not being relinquished at publication.
This counselling should be taken into consideration in the local implementation of the universities’ Open Access policies. Each university should thus facilitate the researchers’ opportunity to get guidance and counselling in relation to Open Access, copyright, depositing of publications in the local repositories etc. This is included as an element in recommendation number 3 above.
Assignment 1.4: Ensuring that repositories of scientific information are sustainable and inter-operable
In Denmark all the universities have research information systems and repositories run and financed like other parts of the local digital infrastructure.
These systems meet both national and international requirements in terms of interoperability. On the national level it concerns protocols for data exchange (OAI-PMH) and for data formats (DDF-MXD) to be used for i.a. the bibliometric research indicator and the federated portal for the dissemination of Danish research results.
On the international level the same protocol for data exchange (OAI-PMH) is being used and Danish databases are incorporated in the European DRIVER portal and thus meet the requirements stated in the DRIVER guidelines.
It is therefore the Open Access Committee’s assessment that there is no need for further initiatives in order to ensure that Danish repositories are viable and interoperable. The need for playing an active part in international cooperation is mentioned under Assignment 2.3.
Assignment 1.5: Bringing together main stakeholders in the debate on scientific information (researchers, research councils, libraries and scientific publishers)
It is recommended that Denmark’s Electronic Research Library (DEFF) become responsible for the continued coordination of the Open Access Committee’s tasks and the implementation of the committee’s recommendations. Several recommendations require project management and administration. It is, moreover, vital for the success of the implementation that the necessary resources are available to ensure progress and coordinate tasks. This is the background for the Open Access Committee’s recommendation number 7: DEFF coordinates the implementation of the Open Access Committee’s recommendations.
The need exists for information being given to stakeholders who play a role in scientific publishing and dissemination and consequently have an interest in a publishing model, which to a greater degree is Open Access-based. In the first instance the challenge is to work out and plan how best to tackle the task in relation to various stakeholders with a view to obtain the best possible information, dialogue and debate. This is the background for the Open Access Committee’s recommendation number 8: Professional implementation of information, debate and dialogue.
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Recommendation 7
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DEFF coordinates the implementation of the recommendations by the Open Access Committee The Open Access Committee recommends that DEFF be responsible for the continued coordination of the Open Access Committee’s work and the implementation of the Committee’s approved recommendations for a project period of 4 years. Included in this is also the role as national support for the universities’ local advisers (competence development, knowledge sharing, international cooperation etc.). |
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DEFF will be responsible for:
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| Financing | DKK 800,000 annually for 4 years |
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Recommendation 8
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Professional implementation of information, debate and dialogue The Open Access Committee recommends the contracting with a media and communication bureau to plan how the public can be involved in the debate, including via the daily newspapers, events, etc. |
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| Funding | A total of DKK 1.3 mil. for campaign and follow-up |
Main area 2: Enhance the coordination between the member states on access and dissemination policies and practicies
The economic and societal useful effects of free access to scientific research results increase along with many countries introducing an active policy and strategy for Open Access. It is by nature a task which can only be solved satisfactorily by way of broad international collaboration. Coordination between countries at all levels and in all kinds of fora is therefore relevant and necessary in order to obtain useful and lasting results.
Assignment 2.1: Exploring the possibility of national funding bodies to define common basic principles on Open Access
The international coordination between the national research councils is central with a view to ensure the widest possible dissemination, but also in relation to levelling uniform demands by the research councils across borderlines. This assignment must necessarily be solved in the fora in question. This is the background for recommendation number 9: Coordination of the Danish Open Access initiative in international fora.
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Recommendation 9
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Coordination of the Danish Open Access initiative in international fora The Open Access Committee recommends that the Danish representatives of the research councils in international research fora such as EUROHORCs and European Science Foundation ensure coordination of Open Access policies between the councils. |
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The recommendation is implemented by The Danish Council for Independent Research, The Danish Council for Strategic Research, The Danish National Research Foundation, The Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation and the Danish Council for Technology and Innovation. |
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Assignment 2.2: Improving the transparency of the contractual terms of “big deals”financed with public money – assessing the possibilities to achieve “economies of scale” by demand aggregation
DEFF has for a number of years negotiated license agreements for electronic periodicals, e-books, databases etc. on behalf of all academic libraries under the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education, i.e. all library types from university libraries to upper-secondary education libraries.
DEFF participates in various Nordic and international coordination initiatives e.g. International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) and Knowledge Exchange. There is a need for a strengthened effort in this work about Open Access issues such as author remunerations in connection with golden Open Access, transparent business models, freedom to green Open Access (parallel publishing in repositories), deduction for publication fees for articles and national agreements on free access to Danish produced research). This has happened in the Netherlands where at national level an agreement has been entered into with Springer about free access to all research publications published on behalf of Dutch university researchers by Springer. This is the background for the Open Access Committee’s recommendation number 10: Increased focus on Open Access in DEFF consortia licenses.
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Recommendation 10
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Increased focus on Open Access in DEFF consortia licenses The Open Access Committee recommends that in DEFF’s license work and in the international cooperations, in which DEFF is involved, focus be directed on negotiation of author remunerations in connection with golden Open Access, freedom to green Open Access, deduction for publication fees and transparent business models for Open Access publishing at a fee. It is, moreover, recommended that DEFF commits itself to working actively within this field and try to negotiate agreements on Open Access publishing at national level. It should be stressed that the aim is for the expenses in connection with licenses at no rising as a consequence of Open Access. |
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Assignment 2.3: Working towards the interoperability of national repositories for scientific information in order to furthering accessibility and searchability of scientific information beyond national boundaries
If research results are to be shared across systems, it is necessary that systems and exchange formats support this. DEFF has participated actively in the international cooperation concerning repositories via projects in Knowledge Exchange and via The Danish Research Database’s collaboration with DRIVER.
The Knowledge Exchange cooperation is well-established under the auspices of DEFF and includes several international working groups and occasional project within areas like repository interoperabili-ty, Open Access, eScience and primary data, support to the researchers’ management of copyright etc. DEFF is encouraged to continue this commitment and to ensure that activities and results are anchored broadly in the university sector.
DRIVER, which for a number of years has been financed by the EU Commission, now has to be replaced by a common structure, financed directly by the universities and/or their national cooperation organisations within the area. One such global Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) has just been established, and Denmark ought to join in order that the universities as well as DEFF can benefit from the collaboration and its common infrastructures. This is the background for recommendation number 11: Danish membership of Confederation of Open Access Repositories.11
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Recommendation 11
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Danish membership of Confederation of Open Access Repositories The Open Access Committee recommends that after the cessation of DRIVER international collaboration via membership of Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) continue to be supported. |
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1. DEFF becomes a member on behalf of the Danish repositories 3. DEFF ensures that activities and results are anchored widely |
| Financing | Annual membership: DKK 50,000,- |
Assignment 2.4: Contributing to an affective overview of progress at European level by informing the Commission of results and experiences with alternative models for the dissemination of scientific information
Various alternative publishing models are being tested internationally and any Danish experiences should be disseminated and reported on to the EU Commission.
Main area 3: Ensure the long-term preservation of scientific information - including publications and data – and pay due attention to the scientific information in national preservation strategies
Long-term preservation of scientific information and data are important issues when wanting to ensure that knowledge does not get lost due to technological obsolescence or lack of structured collection and preservation. In Denmark the Act on Legal Deposit of published material ensures long-term preservation of publications, but when it is a question of research data the situation is different, although Danish Data Archive has a formal obligation within a number of primarily social science areas.
Assignment 3.1: Defining structured approach to long-term preservation of scientific information and incorporating this approach in the national plans for digital preservation established in line with the Commission Recommendation of 24. August 2006 and Council Conclusions of 13. November 2006 on online accessibility of cultural material and digital preservation
In Denmark the Act on Legal Deposit of published material ensures that Danish works and material are deposited with the State and University Library and The Royal Library who are responsible for long-term preservation of the documents. This applies to physical as well a digital material published on the Internet. In accordance with the legal deposit act revised in 2005, the State and University Library and The Royal Library conduct web harvestings in order to collect Danish material published on the net.
As mentioned under assignment 1.2 the universities’ need for being able to draw on long-term preservation services grows as they, to an ever-increasing degree, store the research publications in full text in their local repositories. In Denmark the two legal deposit libraries have established the PIN-DAR archive, into which the universities’ publications are collected via OAI-harvesting. There is, however, a need for developing this solution further into a fully comprehensive long-term preservation service for the universities’ publications which would receive and actively long-term preserve all the publications. In this way the universities can keep their repositories up-to-date with technically migrated versions of their digital publications which in technical terms become obsolete and lose their applicability in the course of relatively few years.
As mentioned under recommendation 5 the new portal for the universities’ repositories will facilitate the transfer of publications to the national long-term preservation service, which would then be able to focus more on the actual technical preservation of the publications. This is the background for the Open Access Committee’s recommendation number 12: Establishment of a comprehensive long-term preservation service for the universities’ publications.
Digital preservation is in fact a very large area where solutions are being sought via international collaborations. The State and University Library and The Royal Library participate in the EU project Preservation and Long-terms Access through Networked Services (PLANETS), where the challenges in relation to long-term preservation are addressed by a number of national libraries, national archives and universities. Focus is on preservation of document-like objects.
As regards preservation of data (primary data, research data) the situation is different, and the need is great for financial means as well as a joint effort and planning among the relevant actors such as the universities, Danish Data Archive, national libraries, research libraries and researcher groups. Part of the joint effort will consist of also looking at activities at NordForsk and EU.
In the long term Open Access policies must also include data, but the situation being what it is at the present there is not sufficient coordination and infrastructure to make this requirement. Contrary to an article, research data do not by themselves provide a lot of meaning. There will be a need to experiment with methods for structured collection and automatic retrieval of information which are necessary for future use, including also judicial matters.
Behind research data often lie many implicit suppositions, which are known at the time, but for data to be useful for others than the group who produced them, they have to be documented. This is the background for the Open Access Committee’s recommendation number 13: National planning of free access to as well as long-term preservation of primary research data.
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Recommendation 12
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Establishment of a comprehensive long-term preservation service for the universities’ publications The Open Access Committee recommends that in connection with the com mon portal for the universities’ research results (recommendation 5) a long-term preservation service be established which ensures that the universities’ digital publications can be read and used over a long period of time. |
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Recommendation 13
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National planning of free access to as well as long-time preservation of primary research data The Open Access Committee recommends that an inter-disciplinary cooperation organisation be established that gathers together stakeholders within the field primary research data. This organisation must work out plans for how Danish research data can be archived so that present and future access is secured. The planning must include an account of the economic consequences. With the purpose of achieving the best possible basis for assessing the economic situation, the work should be divided into a phase 1 and a phase 2. Phase 1 is the planning phase where the review work begins and where an assessment project must be conducted with a view to collecting experiences and knowledge in order to estimate the prospective financial basis for a common national solution for archiving and long-term preservation of Danish scientific data. Phase 1 produces input for phase 2 where the assessment project is continued, and a report including a budget is prepared. Via DEFF the international collaboration on primary research data continues in Knowledge Exchange. |
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| Financing | A total of DKK 2.2 mil. over 2 years. |
Assignment 3.2: Taking into account the specific characteristics of scientific information when setting up the legislative framework (including legal deposit) or practical set-up for digital preservation
As mentioned under assignment 3.1 Denmark has a comprehensive legal deposit act for material published on the net, regardless of the form of the material. The act is adhered to through web-archiving of published material and via harvesting to PINDAR. The whole discussion about scientific primary data does, however, present new challenges as these data have to be handled in a structured way if they are to be used in the future.
At European and global level central fora have been established for collaboration on handling and long-term preservation of scientific information in the broader sense. Here Danish participation should be secured with a view to exchange of experience and in order to establish solutions which are applicable in a global context. This is the background for recommendation number 14: Danish membership of central international cooperation fora for handling and long-term preservation of scientific information in the broader sense.
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Recommendation 14
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Danish membership of central international cooperation fora for handling and long-term preservation of scientific information in the broader sense The Open Access Committee recommends membership of and active participation in the two important international cooperation fora within the field:
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1. DEFF becomes a member of the two fora on behalf of Denmark and the Danish stakeholders |
| Financing | Annual memberships in total: DKK 400,000. |
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This page is chapter 3 of 4 of the publication "Recommendations for implementation of Open Access in Denmark".
Publication may be found at the address http://www.bibliotekogmedier.dk/fileadmin/publikationer/publikationer_engelske/open_access_2010/index.htm
© 2010
