Utrecht University formulates Open Access Policy

In April, the Utrecht University Board met with the various faculty Deans to discuss a policy paper on the topic of Open Access, the international movement which calls for unrestricted public access to all publicly financed research. As a result of the discussion, the following policy statement was agreed upon:

“Utrecht University believes that the results of publicly financed research should, in principle, be freely accessible for everyone. Therefore, Utrecht University recommends that the publications of Utrecht scholars be deposited into the Utrecht repository, the Igitur Archive, so that as many publications as possible may be made openly accessible. In concrete terms, this means that Utrecht University will stimulate the delivery of the publisher versions of publications via Metis to the Igitur Archive. These publications will also be made freely accessible if permitted by the publisher. In addition, during licensing negotiations with publishers, Utrecht University will make it clear that we place a high priority on increasing public access to information via repositories. Utrecht University will carry out this policy in various national and international forums.”

In May of 2005, Utrecht University took the first step toward supporting Open Access by signing the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowlegde in the Science and Humanities. The organisations that sign the Berlin Declaration, agree to:

implement a policy to require their researchers to deposit a copy of their published articles in an open access repository and
encourage their researchers to publish their research articles in open access journals where a suitable journal exists, and provide the support to enable that to happen.

As of August 2009, more than 265 scientific organizations have signed the declaration.

The recent development of a policy statement by Utrecht University is a clear step forward in our support of Open Access. In the fourth quarter of 2009, Igitur will contact the university faculties in order to determine together the best way to implement this policy.