Open source publishing is boosting R&D in Europe

Creative Commons (CC) licensing of online content has made an enormous range of open access publishing possible. This is the main message of an new book presented by the (non-profit) Creative Commons organisation. The Power of Open showcases how copyright, content sharing and collaboration boosts research and development in the digital age.

According to Mark Patterson of the scientific journal Public Library of Science (PLoS), open access publishing is of great significance for innovation in European research. CC licenses provide wide access to research because of their solid legal foundation. “The CC Attribution License in particular is becoming the gold standard in open access publishing. This license clearly indicates that a work can be reused for any legitimate purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without permission, thus maximizing the potential impact of the work. Open access is increasingly recognised as a driver of innovation and economic development, which is why it is essential that all publicly-funded research is made available without any access or reuse restrictions.”

European Commissioner Neelie Kroes is of the same view and has announced the policy to make all published results of EU-funded research openly available. Two projects funded under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) have particularly pushed forward the move towards open access to EU-funded research. SOAP (Study on Open Access Publishing), and OpenAIRE (Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe), both looked at how to create open access to EU-funded research.

The SOAP consortium studied emerging open access business models that have been developed as a result of the shift from print to digital documents. They then used this information to inform the Commission about the risks, opportunities and essential requirements for a smooth transition to open access publishing. The OpenAIRE project, focuses on the specific infrastructures needed for realising content sharing and aims to build a portal that will act as a repository for everything related to FP7, from project calls to published papers.

CC developed into being a leading standard of open access. The Power of Open contains many examples of projects and individuals from around the world whose work has been brought to a wider audience thanks to CC. The book shows that the CC project has had a direct impact on European research, directly in line with the Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe.

Source:  Cordis (European Commission Newsroom)

Further reference: Creative Commons. Download a copy of 'The Power of Open' here