RESEARCH : OPEN ACCESS TO RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS BECOMING THE NORM.

• Position: Brief article

Research Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn is pleased to note that access to research publications free of charge for readers continues to rise in the European Research Area, after reaching the tipping point of 50% in 2011. This is confirmed in a study carried out by Science-Metrix(1), funded by the European Commission. On the other hand, Science-Metrix shows in a second study that there are far fewer policies in place for open access to scientific data, a much more sensitive issue.

Open access to research findings is one of the priorities of the EU's research commissioner. It will be mandatory for all scholarly publications receiving support from Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme for 2014-2020. Researchers will have the choice between two options: articles can be made available immediately online by the publisher ("gold" or "hybrid"...