{"id":184095,"date":"2025-12-09T15:39:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T14:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=184095"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:28:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:28:00","slug":"only-0-4-per-cent-of-eurs-2024-science-is-not-yet-publicly-accessible-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/12\/09\/only-0-4-per-cent-of-eurs-2024-science-is-not-yet-publicly-accessible-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Only 0.4 per cent of EUR\u2019s 2024 science is not yet publicly accessible, here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Erasmus University has almost reached 100 per cent open access for its output of 2024, but not quite yet. Erica Yu explains what it means for research to be open access, and what the University Library\u2019s team is planning to open up that final 0.4 per cent that\u2019s still locked behind a paywall.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOpen Access is basically about making scientific research permanently available for all\u201d, Yu explains. \u201cSo permanently accessible with an open license. An open license means people can share and reuse research as they see fit, as long as they attribute the original author.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yu thinks Open Access is very important to the mission of the university. \u201cThe university is always talking about social impact. To be able to make the most impact socially, it\u2019s important that the research we produce is accessible to everyone who might need it. People\u2019s access to knowledge shouldn\u2019t depend on the resources they have at their disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last 0.4 per cent<\/h2>

There is still 0.4 per cent to go before the university reaches full open access. The reason for this, according to Yu, is the fact that some people prefer their publications to be behind a paywall. \u201cI think people working with information under copyright, or people whose research involves something they think should be protected, would rather not publish Open Access. It could also be that they don\u2019t fully agree with how the \u2018Green Open Access route\u2019 is implemented. And that\u2019s okay, they can always opt out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreen<\/em> articles are first published in a traditional journal, which means readers have to pay a fee before receiving access to the publication\u201d, Yu explains. \u201cAn author can then make that publication publicly available by depositing them in Pure, our institutional repository.\u00a0After six months, the publication will be accessible through Pure, while it remains behind a paywall on the publisher\u2019s website.\u201d<\/p>\n

Between 2023 and 2024, Open Access increased from 82.9 to 99.6 per cent. Compared to the years before, this is a big step forward, which was largely due to the Erasmus MC fully implementing the Taverne Amendment<\/a> in 2024. This enabled a huge jump in the number of Green Open Access articles.<\/p>\n

Next steps<\/h2>

\u201cI think the biggest driver for reaching this point was the green route\u201d, Yu states, \u201cso we want to keep pushing it further. We\u2019re also working hard on Diamond<\/em> Open Access. This is the most ideal version where both readers and authors don\u2019t have to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the moment, only a small percentage of the published articles are Diamond. This, says Yu, is because Diamond Open Access journals are by definition not-for-profit. \u201cTo operate and deliver quality work, they need to rely on other funding sources, whereas commercial publishers can simply function by charging authors, readers, or both.\u201d Rather than giving more money to commercial publishers, the Open Access-team wants to increase the percentage of Diamond articles.<\/p>\n

Apart from that, the team is looking for a way to get people to care. For this purpose, Recognition and Rewards<\/a> could be an option. \u201cBy rewarding people for publishing Open Access \u2013 particularly through the Diamond route \u2013 you\u2019re making them care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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