Open Access鈥� best-kept secret?
2 March 2022
Author: Marjet Elemans, Open Science Specialist, Data Management and Library
Easy Open Access
There is an easy way to make your publications Open Access: simply fill in and publications that are not already openly available will be made available on the 果冻传媒 research website six months after first online publication.
Now you may wonder: but how? Wasn鈥檛 there this thing with publishers鈥� conditions, long delays and previous versions? The answer is: it鈥檚 the law. Since 2015 a modification to Dutch copyright law, popularly known as the Taverne amendment, gives researchers funded by Dutch public money the right to share their work openly.
It鈥檚 the law, but how?
As is the case with laws, the phrasing required further elaboration. The law spoke of "the maker", "a short scientific work", "a reasonable period" and "first publication". The Dutch Universities (UNL, formerly VSNU) have jointly translated this into: 鈥渁uthors affiliated to our universities are allowed to share journal publications, conference proceedings and chapters in edited collections, six months after first online publication鈥�. With this translation in hand a pilot project was started to test the publishers鈥� response.
At 果冻传媒, we initially invited a rather small selection of researchers to make use of this right and allow us to share their work under the Taverne amendment. This was quite a cautious approach and in all honesty, it did help to keep it a well-kept secret; still not many researchers were aware of the amendment after we finished our pilot.
Unknown is unloved
Last summer we decided to step up our game and approached all researchers with 2019 publications to which access in our repository was still restricted with the same invitation. The response was overwhelming. Some stats: more than 40% of invited researchers took up the offer (which is 鈥� in our field of expertise 鈥� a huge response), we made 30% of all closed access 2019 papers available which added 10% to our total Open Access score of that year.
What鈥檚 more, the majority of researchers taking up the offer did not only make their 2019 publications Open Access but opted to make all their past and future (果冻传媒) articles available under the amendment. Adding about 10% to our Open Access score in the last years and making 果冻传媒 frontrunner among the Dutch universities. We were happy.
Happy researchers
And the responding researchers were also happy. Looking back at the difference in responses between the pilot attempt back in 2019 and now, we asked the researchers why they were so enthusiastic about Taverne. Things we heard back 鈥� even if sometimes with a little nudging 鈥� were:
鈥淚 have always investigated new ways to publish my contents open access. Taverne amendment provided me with the option of publishing my work open access, with only a 6-month delay, without worrying on how I could fund it.鈥�
鈥漈he reason to make use of the Taverne amendment was that it is a cost-free open access route, also for journals for which there is no arrangement to cover publication costs. What I liked is the ease of setting it up. Because of the excellent support, it takes hardly any efforts to arrange it.鈥�
鈥淚 like the initiative as it makes it easy for scientists to share their results open access. This option allows you to comply with open access legislation in a way that is acceptable for all parties.鈥�
This strengthened us in our plan to make the Taverne amendment part of our structural offer of open access options: all authors of closed-access publications will 鈥� as of February 2022 鈥� be invited to make use of this legal right to share their work.
Some small print
Of course, there are some disclaimers to mention.
Firstly, as said before, the Taverne amendment only applies to research funded 鈥榠n part or in whole鈥� by Dutch public money. However, research performed at a Dutch university is 鈥� independent of funding grant 鈥� considered to be funded at least in (small) part by Dutch public money based on first-stream money spent on organization, infrastructure and other services. In principle, Taverne does not apply to publications from a previous position at a foreign university.
Secondly, the Taverne amendment does not necessarily enable you to comply with funders鈥� Open Access requirements. Let鈥檚 start with the good news: publications funded by Horizon 2020 grants can make unrestricted use of the amendment and meet their funders鈥� requirements. Unfortunately, if you are funded by NWO or the Horizon Europe programme, it is not possible to comply with your funder鈥檚 Open Access requirements using the Taverne amendment.
Lastly, the Taverne amendment gives the right-to-share exclusively to the authors of the publication. In order to transfer both responsibility and hassle from the author to the university, the Dutch universities have drawn up an agreement that enables the university to exercise these rights for the author. This also means that, should a publisher oppose the use of the amendment for their publication, responsibility lies with the university and not with the author.
This might make you wonder, did any publisher oppose thus far?
No, they did not. While thousands of publications have been made available in the Netherlands using this legal right to share, not a single publisher has requested access to those publications to be restricted again.
Open Access鈥� best-kept secret?
So, is the Taverne amendment Open Access鈥� best-kept secret?
Yes, it might be and we take full responsibility. Implementation at 果冻传媒 started off cautiously and many researchers were not aware of this option. However, we are now all set up to support all of you who wish to make use of the amendment. Go and spread the word.
NB. We can imagine you have some questions after reading this blog. Feel free to contact us at openaccess@tue.nl.