Open Access to Research (RO0062)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Romania Action Plan 2018-2020
Action Plan Cycle: 2018
Status: Active
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Research and Innovation (MCI)
Support Institution(s): Ministry of National Education, Centre for Public Innovation Kosson.ro
Policy Areas
Access to Information, E-Government, Open DataDescription
Open access to research results
2018-2020 Lead implementing agency/actor Ministry of Research and Innovation (MCI) Other actors involved State actors Ministry of National Education CSOs, private sector, multilaterals, working groups Centre for Public Innovation Kosson.ro What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The European Commission has introduced compliance with the principles of Open Access in the main funding programs for education and research (FP7, Erasmus +, Horizon 2020, European Research Forum). In April 2012, the Romanian Academy signed a Statement of Open Science support as a member of ALLEA - All European Academies which, together with the other signatories, called for "the implementation of Open Science principles for publications, research data, software, educational resources and infrastructures research". Commitment description What is the commitment? The commitment aims to lead to the adoption of a national Open Access strategy for research results, by implementing pilot programs and substantiating research and public consultations. How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem? (1) Identify and support a pilot public institution (ministry, agency, university, research institute) which will adopt a policy of publishing, communicating and valorisation on all scientific results financed by public funds with Open Access. (2) Identifying a domain with lower potential for commercial re-use controversy; the development of rules on the publication of open research results under an open license; implementation of these rules for acquisitions of central public institutions or projects funded by them. Create a repository for the data resulted from these projects. 35 Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? Publishing studies and research results funded from public funds, as well as the establishment of a framework enabling the adoption at national level of policies in line with Commission Recommendation C (2012) 4890, which requires each Member State to develop its own Open Access policies. Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable Responsible agency / partner Start Date: End Date: Identify a pilot institution and develop the pilot program MCI 2019 2020 Implementation of the pilot MCI 2019 2020 Mapping of institutional OA practices and policies in Romania MCI 2019 2020 Transposition of the developed rules on OA in the future funding programs for research, similar to the Horizon 2020 provisions MCI 2019 2020 Develop and adopt a national strategy on OA MCI 2019 2020 Additional information Correlation with other government programs/strategies National Strategy for the Digital Agenda, National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation, Law no.1/2011 on national education, Ro-EU Partnership Agreement 2014-2020
IRM Midterm Status Summary
15. Open access to research results
Commitment Text: "The commitment aims to lead to the adoption of a national Open Access strategy for research results, by implementing pilot programs and substantiating research and public consultations."
Milestones:
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- Identify a pilot institution and develop the pilot program
- Implementation of the pilot
- Mapping of institutional OA practices and policies in Romania
- Transposition of the developed rules on OA in the future funding programs for research, similar to the Horizon 2020 provisions
- Develop and adopt a national strategy on OA
Start Date: 2018 ...............................................
End Date: 2020
Editorial Note: The commitment text is abridged. The full text can be found in the OGP 2018-2020 national action plan.
Context and Objectives
The European Commission has mandated compliance with the open access principles in the main funding programs for education and research (i.e., FP7, Erasmus +, Horizon 2020, European Research Forum). In April 2012, the Romanian Academy of Sciences signed a Statement of Open Science Support as a member of the All European Academies, which, together with the other signatories, called for "the implementation of Open Science principles for publications, research data, software, educational resources, and infrastructures research." [134] Since then, however, nationally funded research is not mandatorily published under open access, and there are very few open access publications. This decreases the chances of Romanian researchers to secure EU research grants, [135] and leaves the least experienced ones vulnerable to deceptive open access journals and magazines. [136] Consequently, many Romanian researchers resist publishing in open access journals, for fear that it may negatively impact their careers. [137]
This commitment has several objectives to help resolve this problem, from supporting a pilot policy for open access publishing of scientific results, financed with public funds, to creating a repository for the data thereby released. It therefore supports furthering access to information (i.e., research results). This will be aided by building a comprehensive IT infrastructure, capable of correctly storing and disseminating research results.
The milestones of this commitment are verifiable, but could be more detailed. In fact, open questions around how to implement the commitment have, at least in part, led to some disagreements between the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MCI) and the pilot implementing institution, the Institute for Researching the Quality of Life (ICCV), that will likely delay the creation of a single, interoperable repository of open access research. For instance, one of the disagreements centers around who has responsibility for constructing the portal: ICCV solely, or with assistance from MCI. [138] Some progress will be made with the implementation of the next National Strategy of Development, Research and Innovation (SNCDI) (2020 onward), which may put more emphasis on open access to research results. [139] But the interviewed MCI representative did not have a clear vision as to how the next SNCDI will be implemented, or how many funding programs will have an open access clause, or what percentage of research results will be made open. [140] Therefore, if this commitment is completed as written, it will likely have a minor impact on the quantity of open access research, as well as the overall quality of Romanian research.
Next steps
More intermediate steps are needed to transform the practices surrounding open access to research output in Romania. Romania currently consumes more scientific output than it produces, and consequently, stands to benefit from a proactive top-down implementation of open science principles. [141] The IRM researcher therefore recommends carrying this commitment forward to the next action plan, with the following recommendations to help improve its design and implementation:
Commit to nonwavering, larger scale, faster paced reforms.
- MCI could conduct the mapping exercise (Milestone 3) as part of the preparations for the design of the new SNCDI, not as part of its implementation. According to a civil society representative, MCI could involve civil society organizations that have extensive experience in the field, as well as rely on the OpenAIRE expertise and resources. [142]
- While mapping the open access practices and policies in Romania, MCI could identify the open access champions—i.e., institutions that have taken extraordinary steps to promote open access or open science. MCI could then publicly acknowledge their efforts and results by rewarding them or further sponsoring their efforts.
- MCI could commit to offering nonwavering financial support to open access publishing. For instance, a budget can be constructed by multiplying the average number of publications produced by Romanian scientific staff with the average cost of publishing under open access. This fund could be set aside for research institutes, academia, and universities to cover the open access costs. According to the representative of the Romanian Academy, this fund would be a significant support to the open access efforts. [143]
- Finally, MCI could impose a clause that requires funding recipients to publish at least 50 percent of their research output under open access for all research funds MCI offers. Only a high quota will create a meaningful impact.
Commit to the infrastructure and training necessary for open access.
- MCI could take a leading role in piloting publishing research under open access. To this end, MCI could partner with the ICCV and devise a clear action plan with detailed responsibilities for each partner and a clear funding line for a national infrastructure that can be connected to other existing open access infrastructures. [144]
- MCI could put together a team of experts and mandate them to promote open access across all major research institutes in Romania. In particular, the MCI experts could explain (during in-person trainings or through online trainings) the requirements for publishing under open access, the funds necessary and available and how to obtain them, the benefits from publishing open access, and the risks related to scam open access publications. Moreover, the experts could train and accredit the data specialist of each research institute to archive, retrieve, upload, and share research output across different open access platforms. [145]
[134] "Open Science for the 21st Century - A declaration of ALL European Academies", ALLEA General Assembly, 11-12 April 2012, available at http://bit.ly/2mmEWst.
[135] Interview with Ovidiu Voicu, Center for Public Innovation (CPI), 16 April 2019.
[136] Interview with Bogdan Simionescu, Romanian Academy, 2 September 2019.
[137] Interview with Eugen Scarlat, Ministry of Research and Innovation (MCI), 24 April 2019.
[138] Interview with Eugen Scarlat, MCI, 24 April 2019; Interview with Ovidiu Voicu, CPI, 16 April 2019;
[139] Interview with Eugen Scarlat, MCI, 24 April 2019.
[140] Interview with Eugen Scarlat, MCI, 24 April 2019.
[141] Simionescu, B. (2017) "Open science, un fenomen pregătit să schimbe realitatea cercetării", Market Watch, available [in Romanian] at http://bit.ly/2kGpY05.
[142] Interview with Ovidiu Voicu, CPI, 16 April 2019.
[143] Interview with Bogdan Simionescu, Romanian Academy, 2 September 2019.
[144] Interview with Ovidiu Voicu, CPI, 16 April 2019; Interview with Sorin Cace, Institute for Researching the Quality of Life (ICCV), 30 August 2019.
[145] Interview with Sorin Cace, ICCV, 30 August 2019; Interview with Bogdan Simionescu, Romanian Academy, 2 September 2019.
[146] European Commission (2018) "Education and Training Monitor: Romania", available at http://bit.ly/2m1potM.
Commitments
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Streamline processes of consulting and involving citizens in innovative policy-making
RO0066, 2020, Capacity Building
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Increase youth involvement in decision-making processes
RO0067, 2020, E-Government
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Extend open government initiatives to the local level
RO0068, 2020, Capacity Building
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Improving access to social services for vulnerable citizens
RO0069, 2020, Capacity Building
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Create centralized public database for non-reimbursable financing
RO0070, 2020, E-Government
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Analyze and increase availability of data on public allocations and procurements
RO0071, 2020, Anti-Corruption
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Publish information about projects financed by Romania in the Republic of Moldova
RO0072, 2020, Aid
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Promote rights of citizens belonging to national minorities
RO0073, 2020, Access to Justice
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Assess and draft recommendations to improve health services
RO0074, 2020, Access to Information
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Analyze data and train health professionals in reducing patient risk
RO0075, 2020, Capacity Building
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Eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic procedures at central government level
RO0076, 2020, E-Government
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Increase amount of open data
RO0077, 2020, Access to Information
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Standardize Public Consultation Practices
RO0048, 2018, E-Government
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Open Local Government
RO0049, 2018, Capacity Building
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Citizen Budgets
RO0050, 2018, Capacity Building
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Youth Participation
RO0051, 2018, Capacity Building
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Register of Civil Society Proposals
RO0052, 2018, E-Government
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Access to Information – Local
RO0053, 2018, Capacity Building
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Online Business Sector Information
RO0054, 2018, Capacity Building
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Digital Consular Services
RO0055, 2018, Capacity Building
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Transparency in the Funding of Political Parties
RO0056, 2018, Access to Information
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National Investment Fund Transparency
RO0057, 2018, Access to Information
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Civil Servant Training
RO0058, 2018, Capacity Building
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Raise Awareness About Corruption
RO0059, 2018, Capacity Building
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Transparency of Seized Assets
RO0060, 2018, Access to Information
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Access to Social Services
RO0061, 2018, E-Government
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Open Access to Research
RO0062, 2018, Access to Information
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Open Education
RO0063, 2018, Access to Information
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Evaluate Open Data
RO0064, 2018, Access to Information
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Open Data
RO0065, 2018, Access to Information
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Improving the Legal Framework and Practices Regarding Access to Public Interest Information
RO0030, 2016, Access to Information
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Centralized Publishing of Public Interest Information on the Single Gateway Transparenta.Gov.Ro
RO0031, 2016, Capacity Building
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Promoting Open Parliament Principles
RO0032, 2016, Capacity Building
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Improved Management of the Applications Submitted for Granting Citizenship
RO0033, 2016, Capacity Building
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Standardization of Transparency Practices in the Decision-Making Procedures
RO0034, 2016, Capacity Building
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Centralised Publication of Legislative Projects on the Single Gateway Consultare.Gov.Ro
RO0035, 2016, Capacity Building
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Citizens Budgets
RO0036, 2016, Capacity Building
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Improve Youth Consultation and Public Participation
RO0037, 2016, Capacity Building
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Subnational Open Government
RO0038, 2016, Capacity Building
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Promoting Transparency in the Decision-Making Process By Setting Up a Transparency Register (RUTI)
RO0039, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Access to Performance Indicators Monitored in the Implementation of the National Anticorruption Strategy (SNA)
RO0040, 2016, Access to Information
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Improve Transparency in the Management of Seized Assets
RO0041, 2016, Access to Information
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Annual Mandatory Training of Civil Servants on Integrity Matters
RO0042, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Improving Access to Cultural Heritage
RO0043, 2016, Capacity Building
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Open Data and Transparency in Education
RO0044, 2016, Access to Information
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Virtual School Library and Open Educational Resources
RO0045, 2016, Capacity Building
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Open Contracting
RO0046, 2016, Anti-Corruption
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Increasing the Quality and Quantity of Published Open Data
RO0047, 2016, Access to Information
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Publishing the Public Interest Information on a Single Government Portal: Transparenta.Gov.Ro
RO0019, 2014, Access to Information
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Making an Inventory of the Datasets Produced by the Ministries and Subordinate Agencies
RO0020, 2014, Access to Information
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Ensuring the Free Online Access to National Legislation
RO0021, 2014, E-Government
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Amending Law 109/2007 on the Re-Use of Public Sector Information
RO0022, 2014, Access to Information
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Opening Data Collected from the National Health System
RO0023, 2014, Access to Information
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Opening Data Collected from the Monitoring of Preventive Measures as Part of the National Anticorruption Strategy 2012-2015
RO0024, 2014, Access to Information
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Open Contracting
RO0025, 2014, Anti-Corruption
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Opening up Data Resulted from Publicly-Funded Research Projects
RO0026, 2014, E-Government
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Increasing the Quality and Quantity of Published Open Data
RO0027, 2014, Access to Information
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Human Resource Training in the Field of Open Data
RO0028, 2014, Access to Information
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Disseminating Information on the OGP Principles and Promoting the Open Data Concept in an Accessible Manner
RO0029, 2014, Public Participation
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Designating a Person Responsible for Publishing Open Data in Each Public Institution
RO0001, 2012, Access to Information
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Identifying Regulatory Needs, Logistical and Technical Solutions
RO0002, 2012, Access to Information
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Making an Inventory of Available (High-Value) Data-Sets
RO0003, 2012, Access to Information
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Priority Publishing on the Web Pages of Public Institutions of Specific Data-Sets
RO0004, 2012, Access to Information
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Initiating Pilot-Projects, in Partnerships
RO0005, 2012, Access to Information
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Organizing Public Debates on the Utility of Open Data, in Partnerships
RO0006, 2012, Access to Information
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Uniform, Machine-Readable Publishing Format for Open Data
RO0007, 2012, Access to Information
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Procedures for Publication of Data-Sets Based on Civil Society Recommendations
RO0008, 2012, Access to Information
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Procedures for Citizen Complaints Pertaining to Open Data
RO0009, 2012, Access to Information
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Consultation Mechanism Between Suppliers and Beneficiaries of Open Data
RO0010, 2012, Access to Information
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Creating a Rating System for the Assessment of High-Value Data-Sets
RO0011, 2012, Access to Information
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Routinely Publishing Specific Data-Sets on Web Pages of Public Institutions
RO0012, 2012, Access to Information
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Integrating Open Data from Public Institutions in a Single National Platform
RO0013, 2012, Access to Information
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Inventories of Data, in Order to Facilitate Public Access
RO0014, 2012, Access to Information
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Institute a Monitoring Mechanism of Compliance for Open Data
RO0015, 2012, Access to Information
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Stimulating the Market for Innovative Use of Open Data
RO0016, 2012, Access to Information
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Routinely Publishing Data-Sets on the National Platform, 25% High-Value
RO0017, 2012, Access to Information
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The Public Procurement Electronic System (SEAP). the Electronic Allocation System for Transports (SAET)/B.1 C) Expanding the On-Line Submission of Fiscal Forms. Ensuring the Free On-Line Access to National Legislation. Developing Electronic Tools to Manage Subpoenas and Facilitate Access Toinformation Regarding Legal Proceedings. Developing Electronic Tools to Manage the Procedures Related to Obtaining the Romanian Citizenship. Developing Electronic Tools to Manage the Procedures Related to the Creation of Non-Profit Legal Persons. the Integrated System for Electronic Access to Justice (SIIAEJ)
RO0018, 2012, Access to Justice