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Open Access Policy

Latest News

25.01.2022 - A FCT informa que o processo de implementação do Plano S, previsto inicialmente para 1 de janeiro de 2022, vai ser estendido até 1 de julho de 2022. Durante 2021, a FCT desencadeou um processo que conduzirá à implementação de acordos transformativos este ano, através da negociação dos contratos com os editores presentes na b-on, relativos ao triénio 2022-2024, que assegurarão aos autores de instituições b-on a publicação em acesso aberto, na maioria destes editores e nas condições contratualizadas com cada um deles, sem qualquer custo para o autor. No decurso do primeiro semestre de 2022, a FCT irá também proceder à revisão e divulgação da sua Política de Acesso Aberto/Ciência Aberta, à atualização de regulamentos e à operacionalização dos contratos referidos, preparando igualmente a comunidade de investigação para o novo paradigma do acesso aberto.
25.01.2021 - FCT is set to implement Plan S. Initiative promotes transition to full Open Access. (see News).
21.02.2018 - A study on Open Access Models, Policies and Costs (available only in Portuguese) has been published, within the framework of the implementation of the National Open Science Policy. This work includes a characterization of the evolution of academic communication and current publication models, an analysis and comparison of open access policies and a prediction of potential cost at national level to access articles in scientific journals. It concludes with a set of recommendations for the different institutions of the system, which may contribute to reduce costs and improve conditions of access to scientific information.
This document, developed by FCT, is part of the National Strategy for Open Science, promoted by the Ministry for Science, Technology and Higher Education, and intends to contribute to the broad discussion on the different Open Access alternatives to scientific publications. It is available on this page and on the Open Science page.
15.11.2017 – Open Science in pictures – See how to comply with FCT’s Open Access Policy in our infographic. Visit the Open Science webpage for more infographics.
15.05.2017 - In the context of the implementation of the standards determined by its Open Access Policy, FCT has established a transitional phase, during which the deposit of the article in one of the repositories of the RCAAP network will suffice. This phase it is intended as a period of raising awareness for Open Access Best Practices among the scientific community, particularly in order to implement the deposit of their publications as a habit that should be as natural as the submission of an article to a scientific journal.
The payment of Article Processing Charges (APC's) or other fees required by some publishers for publication in Open Access is an option of the researcher. Although this cost is considered eligible by FCT, APC payment is not a recommendation of FCT, since compliance with Open Access standards does not imply direct publishing in Open Access.
Deposit of the article in RCAAP repositories must be made regardless of the embargo established by the publisher. During the transitional phase, the embargo accepted by FCT may be longer than defined in the Standards, if the publisher so requires. In cases where the publisher does not allow self-archiving of the published version, the author may deposit his final version (Accepted Manuscript), which is the final draft author manuscript, after peer review, accepted for publication, but which has not undergone formatting, proofreading (spelling and no scientific content) and typesetting. In this case, the file in the possession of the author with changes arising from the process of peer review should be deposited.

FCT believes that the results of scientific research should be widely disseminated and freely available.

The benefits of Open Access are widely accepted and promoted by researchers, universities, international organisations and a host of public research agencies. Open access impacts on research directly, allowing its widespread dissemination and fostering interdisciplinary development. It also acts indirectly, at a socio-economic level, by giving professionals from different subject areas, from industry, and other stakeholders easy access to scientific research.

Portugal’s forward thinking approach on Open Access is widely acknowledged across Europe. Its open access repository infrastructure, Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP) has played a crucial role not only in increasing the visibility of Portuguese universities on the internet, but also in the rapid development and spread of Open Access repositories within several academic institutions.

Over the last five years, FCT has actively participated in implementing Open Access strategies, namely by supporting RCAAP and, recently, by launching a public consultation on proposals for policies on Open Access.

The FCT Policies on Open Access are a direct outcome of the public consultation. They encompass guidelines for free, online access to peer-reviewed publications and data arising from FCT funding. The policies came into force on 5 May 2014.

The core of the policy on open access to publications arising from FCT-funded research is that all publications of research outputs, subject to peer-review or another form of scientific review, should be deposited in one of the open access repositories hosted within RCAAP as soon as possible, preferably immediately on acceptance for publication. An embargo period is allowed, after which the full content of the publications should be made freely available, at no cost. The policy applies to papers in scientific journals, conference proceedings, posters, books and book chapters, monographs, Masters and PhD theses. FCT funding encompasses project grants, studentships and fellowships, career development contracts (FCT Investigator).

The policy on management and sharing of data and other results arising from FCT-funded research encourages researchers to share primary data and other data with the scientific community, by placing the data in open access databases (such as Genbank, for example), within the shortest time possible. In this case, too, FCT funding encompasses project grants, studentships and fellowships, career development contracts (FCT Investigator).

Read the full text of the policies here (only in Portuguese):