On 4 September, the FNR and 10 other national research funding organisations, with the support of the European Commission (EC) and the European Research Council (ERC), have launched cOAlition S, a joint initiative to make full and immediate Open Access to research publications a reality by 2020. The initiative is promoted by Science Europe, the association of national research funding and research performing organisations in Europe.
For the first time, national research councils from 11 countries, in addition to European funders, are working together to align their policies and requirements with regard to Open Access. In 2016, the EU Ministers of science and innovation together with the European Commission have set clear goals, resolving that all scientific publications stemming from public funding should be Open Access by 2020. The funders working on cOAlition S want to take decisive steps to reach this goal. 
„No science should be locked behind paywalls. Open Access to research results is foundational to the scientific enterprise”, says Dr Marc Schiltz, President of Science Europe and Secretary General of the FNR. “I am glad that a core group of research funders, driven by their collective duty of care for the good functioning of the science system, have committed to take a decisive step to make Open Access a reality.”
By 2020, scientific publications that result from research funded by public grants provided by participating national and European research councils and funding bodies, must be published in compliant Open Access Journals or on compliant Open Access Platforms.
The funders participating in cOAlition S will work together with researchers, universities, libraries and publishers to coordinate a swift implementation of the 10 principles of this ambitious plan, that has been developed jointly by the EC’s special envoy on Open Access (Robert-Jan Smits) and Science Europe.
The FNR is a convinced advocate of Open Access. Back in December 2016, it introduced its new policy on Open Access publications from FNR co-funded research as well as a new instrument to help cover the article processing fees, the FNR Open Access Fund.
Find out more about cOAlition S
Read ‘Science Without Publication Paywalls a Preamble to: cOAlition S for the Realisation of Full and Immediate Open Access‘ by Science Europe President and FNR Secretary General Marc Schiltz
About Open Access
An Open Access publication is one that is made freely available to any potential reader or user with access to the internet, with the only limitation that the work is properly attributed to its author(s). Open Access publications contribute to a more efficient and effective use of research results, maximise the potential for innovation, increases the visibility of researchers and their research institutions and provide the conditions for a bigger return on invest from public money.