Open access can be described as the practice of providing free and online access to scientific information to all reader. In the context of Research and Development, open access focuses on access to “scientific information” and “research results”, which refers to two main categories:
- Peer-reviewed scientific research articles
- Research data
Under Horizon 2020, each beneficiary had to ensure open access to all peer-reviewed scientific publications relating to its results. European commission consider research data as an information collected to be examined and considered from different people and open access to research data as a right to access and reuse digital research data under the terms and conditions set out in the Grant Agreement.
Participating projects will be required to develop a Data Management Plan. Data Management Plans (DMPs) are a key element of good data management. A DMP describes the data management life cycle for the data to be collected, processed and/or generated by a Horizon 2020 project. As part of making research data findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable (FAIR), a DMP should include information on:
- the handling of research data during & after the end of the project
- what data will be collected, processed and/or generated
- which methodology & standards will be applied
- whether data will be shared/made open access and
- how data will be curated & preserved (including after the end of the project).
Obviously the costs of open access to research data, including the creation of the data management plan, can be claimed as eligible costs of any Horizon 2020 grant.
More information on Data Management Plan here – https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-funding-guide/cross-cutting-issues/open-access-data-management/data-management_en.htm
More information on Open access here – https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/docs/h2020-funding-guide/cross-cutting-issues/open-access-data-management/open-access_en.htm