The Mallorca Declaration (2016), Research, Innovation, and Science Policy Experts (RISE)

What is this about?

The Mallorca Declaration (2016), produced by the Research, Innovation, and Science Policy Experts (RISE), provides international guidance on open science and open access with a focus on Europe. It frames openness as the default, moderated by ethical, legal, and security considerations, and promotes the principle of being “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.” The declaration emphasizes open access to publications through repositories, use of Creative Commons licensing, persistent identifiers, and compliance with FAIR data principles supported by data management plans. It outlines clear responsibilities for researchers, institutions, funders, and publishers, covering rights retention, transparency in embargoes, and cost management. Adoption is supported through infrastructure such as registries, repositories, and discovery systems, aligned with initiatives like Plan S and the European Open Science Cloud. Equity and responsible openness are central, ensuring inclusion, multilingual communication, and protections for sensitive data. Serving as a benchmark and checklist, it offers actionable steps to harmonize practices, improve reproducibility, and expand equitable access to research.

For whom is this important?

Journal publishersPolicy makersResearch institutionsResearchers

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