Research funded by the public should be publicly accessible as far as possible, not least in the interests of science itself. The SNSF is looking to achieve this goal by following two paths:
- Green Road of Open Access (OA): researchers funded by the SNSF are obligated to, at least, self-archive their work in an institutional or specialist repository or on their personal website in addition to having it published in a journal (provided that there are no unsurmountable legal or technical obstacles).
- Gold Road to OA: the SNSF supports the Gold Road to OA by enabling researchers to cover the costs of direct publications in pure OA journals via their project budgets.
The OA provisions of the SNSF as set out in the Regulations on information, valorisation and rights to research results (clause 4) give researchers freedom of choice with regard to the place of publication and OA road.
OA principles of Science Europe
The 51 member organisations of the umbrella organisation Science Europe are making a concerted effort to ensure that the results of research and innovation funded by public money in Europe are made available by means of a free-of-charge online system. They have defined a list with ten principles which are to lend coherency and consistency to their OA efforts. Through its active participation in Science Europe, the SNSF has contributed to the position paper and committed itself to the principles mentioned therein.
Introduction and FAQ
The SNSF offers an introduction to Open Acces along with further information sources (without claiming that the information provided is exhaustive) and provides FAQs.