European Commission launches open publishing platform

The European Commission has just announced the launch of the Open Research Europe platform, a publishing service that will provide beneficiaries of the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs with a venue to publish research results in accordance with European open access policies. The formal launch of the platform takes place in early 2021, but the submissions will start in the coming weeks.

The platform will provide beneficiaries of the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs with an environment for publishing results in a simple process, with high quality peer review at no cost. The article processing charges will be paid through a procurement contract for publishing and technology services with F1000 Research, which will work also with three other institutions: Eurodoc (The European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers), Global Young Academy and LIBER Europe (Association of European Research Libraries).

The service will be available to beneficiaries of the programs during and after the end of the grant period. Researchers from the University of Coimbra will be able to benefit from this novelty, UC being the Portuguese institution that received the most funds from the Horizon 2020 program. In addition to the more than 60 projects approved for development at the university, UC also participates in international projects related to open science and financed by Horizon 2020, namely in OPERAS consortium. UC is a member of the Executive Assembly (former core group) of OPERAS project, which focuses on open scholarly communication in the Social Sciences and Humanities.

All beneficiaries of the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs are eligible to publish any research results in all fields of science and technology, including natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences and humanities. The platform wants to reach as many partners as possible, including researchers from all disciplines and at all career stages, as well as key intermediaries, such as research librarians. The platform will be oversight by an independent Scientific Advisory Board comprising researchers of high scientific calibre.

Submissions will be accepted from original investigations that derive from a grant from Horizon 2020 (and later from Horizon Europe) in which at least one of the authors is involved. The articles guidelines for publishing are now available and submissions will be possible from the beginning of December.

Open Research Europe will use an immediate publication model followed by a transparent and open peer review process, with the inclusion of all supporting data. The names of the reviewers will be available, as well as their reviews, which will be also citable.

The launch of the platform represents the European Commission's goal in ensuring that all publications of the Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe programs are open access. This model allows everyone to access the results, both the scientific community and the wider public. The platform will support reproducibility and reduce research waste, maximizing the value, impact and scope of European Commission funding.

Learn more about the Horizon 2020 programme on the DAPI UC webpage.

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Launch of the Open Research Europe platform

Submissions: from the beginning of December / 2020

Guidelines for publication: available here

Who can submit: researchers with participation in a project funded by the Horizon 2020 program

Official release: Early 2021