Open Access in EU finally on the Horizon? | European Student Think Tank

"Discussions on the cost of access to articles in scholarly journals have been  rocking the international media in the past months – everywhere from the Economist to the New York Times. The proverbial genie has left the bottle, everyday more researchers, students, and policymakers are realizing how unsustainable today’s way of publishing research has become. Complimenting bold initiatives on this issue in the UKand the USA, the EU plans to make all €80bn it will fund through 2020 openly available. Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Digital Agenda, has recently said: 'Taxpayers should not have to pay twice for scientific research and they need seamless access to raw data. We want to bring dissemination and exploitation of scientific research results to the next level. Data is the new oil.' In this article, I will try to briefly outline the problem of access to journal articles and current developments at the EU level for alleviating it. Today’s students are the largest part of the academic community. As the scholars and policymakers of the future, we should be aware of the steep barriers many face in accessing journals, and how students can work with supportive institutions like the European Commission to be part of the solution ... Horizon 2020 will fund €80 billion in research grants and run from 2014 to 2020. What is revolutionary about this funding framework is that the EU would request that all the Horizon 2020 research be Open Access. This not only means that more than €80 billion of funded research wouldn’t end up behind a paywall when published, but the EU would also be setting an important precedent for funding agencies in Europe and around the world. It would openly state: This is how we fund research in the 21st century. Why aren’t you doing the same? ..."