Strategy for open science at USN

The goal of research at USN is the production, dissemination and preservation of knowledge.

USN will make all their research results available to individuals, the public sector, the private sector and the global research community. We will work to ensure knowledge sharing and openness, and this means that research results from USN must quickly be made available for all national and international actors. USN will implement a policy of unrestricted access to and reuse of published research results and underlying datasets.

Our Open Access (OA) policy includes the following elements:

1. All research results from USN must be easily identifiable and accessible online. All publications must be stored in USN's archive, and that archive is to be freely accessible online.

 

2. All research results from USN must be made publicly accessible at the point of publication. This means that anyone can use and redistribute the material for various purposes without having to pay or obtain consent. Staff at USN can only publish in journals with embargo periods, if there are no decent alternatives.

 

3. If possible, research data from USN must be accessible and open. This means that anyone can use research data for various purposes without having to pay or obtain consent, unless special circumstances dictate otherwise (sensitive personal data, security considerations etc.).

 

4. USN will pay fees for open publishing. USN will cover expenses for OA publications and contribute funds for the establishment and operation of OA journals.

 

5. The allocation of research time and financial resources from USN presupposes open publishing. USN allocates substantial resources for its own employees to conduct research, and requires that anyone in receipt of such resources must make their research openly available.

 

Details of the Open Access policy can be found in the document "Supplementary guidelines for OA policy at USN". The policy and its implementation will be continuously evaluated by the vice-rector for research, innovation and internationalisation.

 

The board gives the rector the authority to make  changes to the "Supplementary guidelines for OA policy" when necessary.

Mandates for Open Access

The Research Council of Norway requires that research results from projects completely or partly financed by them have to be open and freely available. Today the Research Council recommends parallel publishing as key initiative as a strategy to secure access to research results.

The Norwegian government is increasingly encouraging Open Access publishing.

“In principle, it is the Government’s view that all research that is wholly or partially funded through public allocations must be made openly available.“, see Long-term perspectives – knowledge provides opportunity (Meld. St. 18 (2012–2013))

The European Union's (EU) 7th framework programme for research (FP7) has initiated a pilot project for Open Access that requires parallel publishing or Gold OA publishing to research within certain subject areas. With Horizon 2020, the EUs 8th framework programme in force at the start of 2014, the requirement for Open Access will be applied to all subjects. Read more about Horizon 2020.