Guidelines to the Rules on Open Access to Scientific Publications & Open Access to Research Data in Horizon 2020 (2017), European Comission

What is this about?

Guidelines to the Rules on Open Access to Scientific Publications & Open Access to Research Data in Horizon 2020 (2017), produced by the European Commission, is an international policy resource written in English and designed for stakeholders across Europe and beyond. It sets openness as the default for research, while balancing ethical, privacy, intellectual property, and security considerations under the maxim “as open as possible, as closed as necessary.” The guidelines link openness to improved research quality, reproducibility, translation speed, and equitable knowledge access, particularly for under-resourced communities. They outline requirements for open access to publications, Creative Commons licensing, persistent identifiers, and deposition in trusted repositories, while also promoting FAIR data principles and detailed data management plans. Responsibilities are assigned to researchers and institutions, including rights retention, funding acknowledgement, and justified use of embargoes. Infrastructure such as repositories, registries, and discovery systems supports compliance, while monitoring occurs through grant reporting and progress indicators. The resource emphasizes responsible openness with safeguards for sensitive or commercial data and encourages capacity building, multilingual communication, and equity. It aligns European practices with initiatives like Plan S and the European Open Science Cloud. For researchers, managers, librarians, funders, and publishers, it offers a clear, actionable reference, reducing ambiguity, harmonizing practices internationally, and serving as a benchmark for transparency, reproducibility, and open research. Published in 2017, it remains a credible reference for policy, training, and grant compliance.

For whom is this important?

All stakeholders in research

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