University of Coimbra commits to opening up research information

The University of Coimbra has joined a group of organisations from around the world in signing the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information, a commitment to make scientific information openly available through open academic infrastructures.

Currently, a large portion of scientific information is locked within proprietary infrastructures, managed by for-profit institutions that are primarily accountable to their shareholders rather than the scientific community. This situation has led to a strong reliance on closed infrastructures, resulting in evaluations of researchers and institutions based on non-transparent evidence and the monitoring and encouragement of open science using closed data.

Moreover, decisions are often biased towards less privileged languages, geographical regions, and research agendas. To promote responsible research assessment, open science, and impartial, high-quality decision-making, the signatories of the Declaration emphasise the urgency of making scientific information openly available through open academic infrastructures.

By signing the Barcelona Declaration, the University of Coimbra commits to leading the reform of the scientific information landscape and transforming its practices. The commitments include:

1. Making openness of research information the default norm.
2. Working with services and systems that support and enable open research information.
3. Supporting the sustainability of infrastructures for open research information.
4. Working together to achieve the transition from closed to open research information.

For publishing services and platforms, it will be required that scientific information generated in publication processes (e.g., metadata of research articles and other outputs) be made openly available through open academic infrastructures, using standard protocols and identifiers where available.

Furthermore, the University of Coimbra will support the sustainability of infrastructures for open scientific information by participating in community building and governance and providing fair and equitable contributions to their financial stability and development.

The University of Coimbra recognises the importance of sharing experiences and coordinating actions to promote a system-wide transition from closed to open research information. To facilitate this, as a signatory of the Declaration, the UC supports the establishment of a Coalition for Open Research Information and the strengthening of collaboration with other related initiatives and organisations.

This commitment reaffirms the UC's leadership role in promoting open science and advancing responsible and transparent research, contributing to a more accessible and equitable scientific information ecosystem.

| Learn more |

Read the full Declaration (in English).