[A2k] European University Association recommends mandatory open access

[Judit Rius Sanjuan]

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EUA is an association of universities in 46 EU countries. The
recommendations are available here: http://www.eua.be/fileadmin/user_upload=
/files/Policy_Positions/Recommendations_Open_Access_adopted_by_the_EUA_Coun=
cil_on_26th_of_March_2008_final.pdf


http://www.eua.be/index.php?id=3D48&no_cache=3D1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=3D5=
18&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=3D1

EUA urges universities to develop clear strategies to advance open
access

Universities need to do more to develop institutional policies and
strategies that increase access to their peer-reviewed research
results to the widest range of users, to maximise the impact and
visibility of university research.

This is one of the key recommendations published by EUA=92s Working
Group on Open Access, which aim to raise awareness of the importance
of the open access issue within the university community, both in
terms of its impact upon the research process but also its financial
implications for university libraries.

EUA is recommending that universities across Europe set up an
=91institutional repository=92 (or take part in a shared repository) as a
key first step to achieving this goal. These repositories should be
established and managed according to current best practices and
policies developed by universities should ensure that researchers
deposit their publications in the repository on acceptance of
publication. Embargoes should only apply to the date of open access
provision and not the date of deposit.

University policies should also take better account of copyright and
the institutional intellectual property rights (IPR) management.

The recommendations were published following a meeting of the EUA
Council, which took place before the opening of the EUA Spring
Conference at the University of Barcelona. The working group=92s
recommendations are based on the core premises: the university=92s role
and responsibility as guardian of research knowledge as a =93public
good=94 and that the results of publicly funded research should be
publicly available as soon as possible; and that quality assurance
peer review processes are pre-conditions for scholarly publishing.


Judit Rius Sanjuan
Attorney at Knowledge Ecology International
www.keionline.org / www.cptech.org
Phone: +1.202.332.2670, x18
Email: judit.rius@keionline.org