Open Access Week 2017, October 23-29: “Open in order to…”
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The Open Access Week is an annual scholarly communication event focusing on Open Access and related topics. The 10th edition of this worldwide event will take place on October 23-29, 2017. This year’s theme “Open in order to…” is an invitation to answer to this question.
Open Access, and more generally Open Science, assumes greater significance and are now part of the daily reality for all those involved in the academic and scientific worlds. Since the EPFL signed the Berlin Declaration on 5 January 2013, the EPFL Library affirmed its commitment by implementing new services for researchers and organizing events. Here are some highlights of the EPFL Library accomplishments in the past year.
“Open in order to...” widely and freely disseminate the published research outputs
In 2017, the EPFL Library renews its financial support for researchers to finance their Gold Open Access publications. In addition to articles, the Library OA Fund has been extended to cover conference proceedings, data journals, books and book chapters. Alongside, the Library continues to negotiate discounts on Open Access publishing fees with publishers. In addition, EPFL researchers can ensure Open Access, according to the OA green model by depositing their publications in Infoscience, the EPFL institutional archive. All these initiatives are in line with the Swiss national strategy on Open Access, which will be set up by 2018.
“Open in order to”… promote research data and its impact
In 2017, the EPFL Library has developed a new website dedicated to research data management. It aims to support researchers in the management of their data and provides concrete tools and guidance at any step of the data life cycle. Among the different tools, a Data Management Plan template specifically focused on the new SNSF requirements on research data has been prepared by the EPFL and the ETHZ libraries. It is a guidance document based on the SNSF DMP form and provides suggested contents and recommendations tailored on the specific needs of EPF researchers.
“Open in order to”... share experiences and discuss about Open Science
In the frame of the Open Science Evening Talks 2017, more than 250 researchers, professors, students, information specialists and interested people from EPFL and abroad answered the call of the EPFL Library and met at the Rolex Learning Center between September 25th and 28th 2017. Each day focused on a specific aspect of Open Science: landscape, publications, research data, code and tools. The main goal was to encourage a constructive thinking and stimulate discussions about Open Science. “The EPFL abides by the principles of Open Science, promoting a cultural change among its community and providing an open and favourable environment for a wider dissemination of scientific knowledge.” declares Isabelle Kratz, Head of EPFL Library. For those who didn’t had the chance to attend, the presentations and conferences podcasts are available on the EPFL Library website.