European institutions support Open Access with the 'Berlin Declaration'

German funding bodies gave a major boost to Open Access publishing by signing a document, 'The Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities', that recognizes the importance of access to scholarly information and promises to support the transition to Open Access publishing models. The Berlin Declaration emerged from a meeting, held 20-22 October 2003, about access to electronic information hosted by Germany's Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science. The declaration states that "establishing Open Access as a worthwhile procedure ideally requires the active commitment of each and every individual producer of scientific knowledge and holder of cultural heritage."

"The funding bodies realize that part of the research process includes dissemination of research results," says David Prosser, Director of SPARC Europe (see Open Access Now, August 25, 2003), "and they believe that their mission is only half fulfilled if research is not made widely and readily available to society at large." The declaration is along the same lines as the 'Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing' that was circulated following a meeting of academics and publishers earlier in the year at the headquarters of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (see Open Access Now, July 14, 2003). The UK biomedical charity The Wellcome Trust also recently publicised its commitment to Open Access (see Open Access Now, November 3, 2003).

"We must build on these statements... by explaining to our researchers what this means for them and the impact on their research, and also by lobbying other funding bodies to persuade them to follow this lead," says Prosser.

The Berlin Declaration makes a clear commitment to encouraging European researchers to change their publishing habits: "Our organizations are interested in the further promotion of the new Open Access paradigm to gain the most benefit for science and society. Therefore, we intend to make progress by encouraging our researchers/grant recipients to publish their work according to the principles of the Open Access paradigm."

Prosser noted three important points to emerge from the meeting. First, the funding bodies expressed a desire to explore reward structures that take into account the method of dissemination, rather than just journal impact factors. Second, the funding bodies recognized the importance of self-archiving and intend to set up their own repositories or encourage researchers to deposit in institutional repositories. And third, there was an understanding that funding institutions would have to provide grant money to cover the author charges associated with Open Access.

Robert Schlögl, of the Fritz Haber Institute, said that the Max Planck Society has put aside a substantial budget to help cover the costs of the transition from current practices, and he estimated that the transition period may be up to 5 years. Peter Gruss, President of the Max Planck Society, emphasized that the funding bodies see the Declaration as a beginning, not an end it itself.

The directors of the two major French funding agencies, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), have since added their signatures to the Berlin Declaration. A second meeting is likely to follow shortly, to establish the practical details of how the European funding institutions will coordinate actively to support Open Access.

www.zim.mpg.de/openaccess-berlin