The petition hosted at ec-petition.eu advocated for guaranteed public access to research results funded by public sources within the European Union. It urged the European Commission (EC) to fully endorse and implement the recommendations from the January 2006 study titled „Study on the Economic and Technical Evolution of the Scientific Publication Markets of Europe.“
The petition emphasized the importance of disseminating knowledge widely, referencing the Berlin Declaration of October 2003, which stated, „Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the information is not made widely and readily available to society.“
A key focus was on Recommendation A1 from the EC study, which called for:
- Guaranteeing public access to publicly-funded research results shortly after publication.
The petition highlighted the central role of research funding agencies in shaping researchers‘ publishing practices. It suggested that these agencies should:
- Promote and support the archiving of publications in open repositories.
- Implement this archiving as a condition for funding.
To achieve this, the petition proposed actions at the European level:
- Establish a European policy mandating that published articles resulting from EC-funded research be available in open access archives after a specified time period.
- Collaborate with Member States and European research and academic associations to explore the implementation of such policies and open repositories.
The petition recommended that any embargo on free access should not exceed six months post-publication, aligning with the European Research Advisory Board and the European Research Council’s statements on open access.
The overarching goal was to ensure that research is widely disseminated and read, thereby maximizing its utility. By adopting Recommendation A1, the petition argued that EC-funded research would reach a broader audience, enhancing the potential benefits of the research and promoting European scholarship both within Europe and globally. It also noted accumulating evidence suggesting that openly accessible research is read and used more, and that open access to research findings could bring economic advantages across the European Research Area.
