The Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) has announced its participation in the OpenAIRE2020, to work towards international alignment of repository networks, a key priority for COAR. COAR will lead the work package, 'International Alignment', enabling to further support work already underway at COAR to facilitate greater interoperability of the major repository networks: La Referencia, OpenAIRE, SHARE and others. In addition, COAR will continue to raise the visibility of repository networks in general as a sustainable option from providing open access to research outputs.
Open access to research results has been recognized by both funders and research institutions as a vital mechanism to spur innovation and to create a fair playing field. The European Commission has been at the forefront of open access and has adopted a comprehensive OA policy, requiring open access to all the articles resulting from its funded research. OpenAIRE2020 is a funded project to develop and maintain the infrastructure to support the European Commission OA policy.
The project is vast and multi-faceted. It provides support for implementing open access at the local level through a network of National Open Access Desks (NOADs). It also addresses many other issues in the scholarly landscape including research into peer review, metrics, data-sharing legal considerations, and linked data. Another aspect is support for the EC Open Research Data Pilot and providing relevant training for institutions which support researchers in sharing their data.
The project was launched in Athens, Greece, on January 28 & 29, 2015. More than 100 participants from over 50 partner institutions met in Athens to discuss work plans and ensure all participants are aware of the many different aspects of this large project. The kick-off was attended by Alberto Cabezas, Executive Secretary of LA Referencia, the Latin-American initiative aggregating Open Access from nine countries, Kathleen Shearer, Executive Director, COAR and Katharina Mueller, Head of Office, COAR.
