Research: Leru calls for action to promote open data

"Universities must urgently put in place data management policies and technical infrastructure to deal with the increasing amount of research data being produced, says the League of European Research Universities. In a position paper on open research data, published on 13 December, Leru states that these actions are needed to make sure the growing body of information produced by researchers is freely available for use and republication. Leru recommends that universities should establish advocacy programmes to inform researches how to manage their publications and data. It will also be important for universities to collaborate with other parties, such as research funders, to share data infrastructure and best practice on the effective management of open data, says Leru. In a second position paper on open access, Leru says it is committed to promoting open access via both green and gold routes of publication under Horizon 2020, as outlined in the organisation’s 2011 roadmap. Under the green route, articles are placed in repositories that then make them freely available after an embargo period. Under the gold route articles are published in open access journals immediately. Leru’s member organisations say they would consider allocating funds to pay for publication charges in open access journals under a gold model of publication. However, Leru highlights that the amount of money required to fund gold open access charges for an institution’s entire research output would be extremely large. The position papers were published on 13 December, following an open access conference hosted by Leru on 30 November in Brussels."