The participation of the FCCN Unit delegation in the 16th edition of the international conference dedicated to Open Access reinforced national support for the Open Access Initiative. Open Access 2020.
In the year marking the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, the city welcomed delegations from 38 countries across six continents to reflect on the past, present, and future of Open Access. Ministers of Education and Science, researchers and academics, as well as representatives of higher education institutions, funding bodies, and libraries were among the participants at the 16th Berlin Open Access Conference (B16), held on June 6th and 7th in Berlin.
Portugal is one of the signatories of the Initiative of Open Access 2020 (OA2020) and the association of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through the FCCN Unit, with this event demonstrates the national commitment to pursuing the objectives and mission of this program. "The FCCN Unit promotes, supports, and facilitates the practice of Open Science by the national community, especially in the areas of open access, through b-on, RCAAP, and PubIn, and open data, through POLEN," explains the Area Director of the FCCN Unit, João Mendes Moreira. in a text signed on the FCCN Blog. The implementation of open access principles and best practices has also been a priority for b-on, which, in line with the proposals of the OA2020 initiative, has begun offering authors the possibility of publishing their articles in open access with certain publishers, under what are called transformative agreements.
At the end of the B16 work, the various delegations released a statement that gathered “a strong consensus” among the participants presentIn this text, the participants emphasize the importance of the global open access transition "moving at a faster pace," emphasizing how "inequity is incompatible with academic publishing."
In this sense, they add, it is essential to guarantee the editorial independence and self-governance of academic entities regarding the publishing process. Furthermore, "authors' rights and their decision-making capacity must be fully respected."
Compliance with these conditions, the document explains, is essential to “restoring confidence in publishers’ commitment to ensuring the integrity of academic communication” – something that can be achieved “by working with all members of the global research community to fully and immediately implement Open Access.”
Find out more about the Open Access movement
