Academy of Finland refines its pol - Academy of Finland

"Academy research funding may also be used to cover costs of so-called hybrid open access publishing. In the hybrid model, researchers negotiate with subscription journals on immediate open access for individual articles against payment. However, the Academy is keen to emphasise the temporary nature of the hybrid open access solution – it is only part of the transition towards full open access publishing. Not all scientific journals offer primarily or sufficiently open publishing routes. Against this backdrop, the Academy has decided that researchers may also use Academy funding to cover costs of hybrid open access publishing. Over the next few years, the Academy will closely monitor the development and costs of open access publishing, and revise its policy where necessary to adapt to evolving ways of working and publishing.

 'The Academy’s decision to update its open access policy represents an important step forward for open science. After all, scientific publishing is changing as never before, and the changes will require more than routine, one-off solutions if we are to achieve true openness. We’ll continue to assess various practical solutions for promoting and requiring openness on a case-by-case basis,' said Riitta Maijala, Vice President for Research at the Academy of Finland.

Open science and research is currently high on the international agenda. Europe has been active on a broad front in aiming for extensive open access publishing. Solutions are being sought and models built at an ever-increasing pace to further develop the cost and funding structures of research and scientific publishing, and to shift publishing increasingly towards full open access.

Finland’s Open Science and Research Initiative, run by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, is now in its final year. Its primary objective is that those working in the Finnish research system will make their research results (publications, data, methods, etc.) openly and permanently available via data networks. The Academy of Finland is firmly committed to this policy and to the Initiative’s other objectives as well."