Open Access to research publications — Uddannelses- og Forskningsministeriet

"In an international context, the process of implementing Open Access is already well under way. Thus, more than 400 organisations, including Harvard University, have signed the Berlin Declaration of 22 October 2003, which represents a milestone in the definition of and work with Open Access. Examples of players which have committed themselves to disseminating Open Access through strategies and policies include the EU Commission, Harvard University and the Welcome Trust. Similarly, major international publishers have agreed to implement Open Access, while recognised scientific organisations such as the National Institutes of Health have made Open Access publication via Pub Med Central a requirement. The implementation of Open Access is also well under way among Danish universities and public research councils and foundations. The Danish Council for Independent Research, the Danish National Research Foundation, the Danish Council for Strategic Research, the Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation and the Danish Council for Technology and Innovation implemented a joint Open Access-policy in June 2012, which requires that researchers receiving funds from these councils and foundations must provide open web access to the publication of their results. With this policy the Danish public research councils follow the recommendations of the EU Commission, which plans to make Open Access to research publications a general requirement in conjunction with the coming framework programme Horizon 2020. Danish universities are also in the process of implementing institutional Open Access policies. Thus, Aarhus University, Copenhagen Business School, the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Aalborg have all introduced Open Access policies, which their researchers have to comply with. Research is a global activity, and Denmark considers itself part of a global research community. Consequently, the various players must collaborate on finding the best possible ways to implement Open Access. The universities, research institutions, publishers, researchers, research councils, research libraries and enterprises all play a key role in optimising the sharing of knowledge and the application of the latest research results. What is required at this stage is that all contribute to implementing Open Access in a way that serves society in the best possible way."