Open Access Policy

Open Access Policy for EUSCP-Funded Project Outputs

All research builds on former work, and depends on scientists’ possibilities to access and share scientific information. The advent of the internet and electronic publishing have resulted in unprecedented possibilities for the dissemination and exchange of information. ‘Open access’, defined as free access over the internet, aims to improve and promote the dissemination of knowledge, thereby improving the efficiency of scientific discovery and maximising return on investment in R&D by public research funding bodies.

The mission of EUSCP is to support excellent research in all fields of science and scholarship. The main outputs of this research are new knowledge, ideas and understanding, which EUSCP expects its researchers to publish in peer-reviewed articles, monographs and chapters.

EUSCP considers that providing free online access to these materials is the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of the research it funds can be accessed, read, and used as the basis for further research.

Guiding principles

In developing its new open access policy, EUSCP was guided by the following principles:

* Open access is of fundamental importance to EUSCP’s mandate and to researchers,
* All EUSCP-funded project outputs should adhere to the same policy,
* Increasing access to project outputs and scientific rigour need to go hand-in-hand,
* Compliance with the policy should not place an undue burden on EUSCP’s grantees or EUSCP itself.

How open access is applied

1- Books and journal articles generated by the grantees and sub-grantees of EUSCP-funded projects will be made accessible free of charge to the EUSCP's Partners and Supporters.
2- The published books or articles must be uploaded to EUSCP's open access repository within 12 months of publication;
3- Grey literature must be placed in the EUSCP Digital Library;
4- All project outputs identified above will be made freely and openly available under the most recent version of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence;
5- Research proposals submitted to EUSCP must include an open access dissemination plan.

EUSCP provides grants for open access publishing

For each grant given within the Projects support form, EUSCP adds a standard grant of up to €16,500 for a one-year project;

For larger projects, the grants size is calculated in proportion to the volume of working hours for the researchers that EUSCP finances. For grant applications for open access publishing during and after the project period, contact the responsible editor.