The European Commission wants to ensure that the results of the research funded under the EU's 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7) are disseminated as widely and effectively as possible to guarantee maximum exploitation and impact in the world of researchers and beyond. Fast and reliable access to research results, especially via the Internet, can drive innovation, advance scientific discovery and support the development of a strong knowledge-based economy.

The Commission launched on August 20th a pilot project that will give unrestricted on-line access to EU-funded research results, primarily research articles published in peer reviewed journals, after an embargo period of between 6 and 12 months. The pilot will cover around 20% of the FP7 programme budget in areas such as health, energy, environment, social sciences and information and communication technologies.

The Commission's open access pilot, to run until the end of FP7, aims to ensure that the results from EU-funded research are progressively made available to all. Grant recipients will be required to deposit peer reviewed research articles or final manuscripts resulting from their FP7 projects in an on-line repository. They will have to make their best effort to ensure open access to these articles within either six or twelve months after publication, depending on the research area. This embargo period will allow scientific publishers to get a return on their investment.

"Easy and free access to the latest knowledge in strategic areas is crucial for EU research competitiveness. This open access pilot is an important step towards achieving the 'fifth freedom', the free movement of knowledge amongst Member States, researchers, industry and the public at large," declared EU Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potočnik, who also considered that “it is a fair return to the public of research that is funded by EU money."

Open access to research articles, previously accessible through journal subscriptions, can help to increase the impact of the EU's € 50 billion investment in research and development and avoid wasting time and valuable resources on duplicative research. With access to a wider selection of literature, researchers can build upon this knowledge to further their own work. Small and medium sized businesses and entrepreneurs can also benefit from improved access to the latest research developments to speed up commercialisation and innovation.

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, highlighted the fact that “the rapid development of digital technologies offers researchers unprecedented possibilities for the timely and efficient sharing of information”. Furthermore, Commissioner Reding, specially welcomed “that scientific publishers have started to move gradually towards new dissemination models and are collaborating with researchers on open access. They have given valuable input to the Commission on these areas, which has been used in the preparation of the pilot project. This will allow a mutually beneficial coexistence that maximises the effects of open access on publicly funded research while leaving room for privately financed business models in publishing."

Information about the open access pilot launched by the Commission will available form September 1st, 2008 in the Commission's website.