Guidelines towards implementing Open Access policies

Abstract

The purpose of this poster is to present the ‘Guidelines towards implementing Open Access policies’ developed by the MedOANet project. These guidelines will serve as a basis for the policy-makers and other key stakeholders in six Mediterranean countries (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Turkey) to implement Open Access policies and strategies, and strengthen already existing ones. The MedOANet (Mediterranean Open Access Network) project addresses the necessity for coordination strategies and policies in Open Access to scientific information in Europe. The MedOANet has contributed to identify and map current policies, strategies, structures in the six Mediterranean countries. The information collected from already existing published sources and enriched with the results of surveys conducted by partners in the first part of the project, is provided through the OA Tracker, an online tool aiming to maintain an accurate representation of activities in the Mediterranean area. Taking into consideration the European Commission’s recommendations, the guidelines towards implementing Open Access policies are directed to top policy-makers and policy stakeholders (e.g. national science councils, research funding bodies, ministries, university administration, etc.) in view of facilitating the processes of development and coordination of Open Access in the six aforementioned Mediterranean countries. The guidelines include: • An overview of the European Commission’s recommendations. • The current state of Open Access and policy developments in the six countries. • Effective practices and policies in other European countries. • The approach to be followed for the successful implementation of policies nationally and institutionally. • Model policies and implementation plans that can be used as basis for customization at national and/or institutional level. • Other resources and information sources on Open Access and Open Access policies.