The next day January 20, 2026, between 2:30 PM and 5:00 PM, at the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. It will host a meeting dedicated to a central theme for the future of research in Portugal and Europe: Secondary Publication Law.
The initiative aims to launch an informed and pluralistic debate on the need to ensure that knowledge produced with public funding remains accessible to all of society, a principle essential to Open Science.
Why talk about Secondary Publishing now?
In recent years, Open Science has established itself as an indispensable pillar of European research policies.The goal is To make scientific knowledge widely available, accessible, and reusable.
Despite this political consensus, many obstacles persist. Traditional models of scientific publication continue, to a large extent, to transfer the authors' intellectual property rights to publishers, limiting public access to research results. This is where [the publication/resource] comes in. secondary publication, already legally recognized in countries such as Austria, Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, and France. This This mechanism allows authors to make their articles available in Open Access repositories, even after publication in commercial journals.
In Portugal, the debate gained new momentum thanks to a recent proposal from a group of academics and civil society organizations to create a right and obligation of secondary publication. This initiative is part of the vision of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and is aligned with recent European reflections.Specifically, the Letta Report and the Draghi Report reinforce the importance of elevating the free flow of knowledge to the status of the European Union's "fifth freedom".
Meeting on January 20th
The event will bring together policymakers, representatives of the European Commission, national authorities, investigators and advocates of Open Science, offering a privileged space to discuss legislative and public policy pathways that will allow this right to be consolidated in Portugal and within the European context.
Among the main objectives are:
- To give visibility to the national proposal for the creation of a right and an obligation for secondary publication.
- Sharing the European Commission's vision and ongoing initiatives in the field of Open Access.
- To promote a broader dialogue. Among relevant sectors, discussing next steps to ensure that more publicly funded research becomes freely accessible.
The program and registration form will be available shortly; for more information, please consult the [link/document/etc.]. official page of the meeting.
FCCN and its commitment to Open Science
As the digital services unit of the FCT, FCCN has played a key role in building an open knowledge ecosystem in Portugal, through Services such as RCAAP, b-on, and various infrastructures supporting scientific communication..
FCCN invites the community to follow and participate in this strategic discussion, helping to build a transparent and collaborative future where funded knowledge is truly accessible to all.
