Leiden University researchers give open access another boost
On 15 March, the Centre for Digital Scholarship at Leiden University Libraries has started the pilot ‘You share we take care’. In cooperation with Leiden University researchers, the program aims to make publications freely available six months after initial publication. More than 60 researchers from all faculties have pledged support to the pilot, to stimulate open access to academic publications. Participating researchers are supported by the open access team at the Centre for Digital Scholarship.
Goals
The pilot contributes to the Dutch ambition to achieve 100% open access by the year 2020. To this end, deals have been made with many publishing houses to achieve open access. However, this is not yet possible for every kind of publication from every journal. That is why publication of academic research in the Netherlands, six months after initial publication, is being facilitated nationally though university repositories. The pilot is limited to recent works of a limited number of authors.
Taverne Amendment
This pilot is made possible by article 25fa of Dutch Copyright Law, also known as the Taverne amendment. This amendment has been translated into clear guidelines by VSNU, in collaboration with Dutch universities, to be implemented in the pilot. The amendment stipulates some conditions for participation in the pilot program. The research reported in the academic publications has to be partly or entirely funded by Dutch public resources and at least one of the authors has to be appointed at a Dutch institution. Furthermore, the pilot only covers articles and book chapters. Researchers who would like to publish their research through the pilot will fully be supported.
Join the movement
Researchers thinking about joining the pilot ‘You share we take care’, can contact Leiden University Library Centre for Digital Scholarship’s open access-team. More information about the national pilot program is available at openaccess.nl.