1.
www.openaire.eu
OpenAIRE Guide for Research Administrators - EC funded projects
This Fact sheet gives an overview of how and where to include reference to Open Access
and Open Science in Horizon 2020 applications. It also highlights the need for metadata for
publications and the Open Research Data Pilot.
Did you know?
The Horizon2020 Grant agreement requires beneficiaries
to provide Open Access to their research results:
Why Open Science?
The EC capitalises on open access and
open science as it lowers barriers to
accessing publicly-funded research.
This increases research impact, the free-
flow of ideas and facilitates (innovation
in) a knowledge-driven society at the
same time underpinning the EU Digital
Agenda.
Reference to open access will contribute
to different stages of the proposal,
from the concept development, to the
impact assessment of the project and
dissemination of the results.
“[…] beneficiary must ensure open
access (free of charge) to all peer-
reviewed scientific publications
[…] the data, including associated
metadata, free of charge for any
user […]”
Figure 1: Horizon 2020 Grant Agreement requirements from beneficiaries with
respect to Open Science. Source: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/
data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/amga/h2020-amga_en.pdf, 6 Aug 2014
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/images/pict5.png

2.
www.openaire.eu
Throughout the proposal, consider how the research
itself will be performed and made openly available.
Section 1 - Concept:
While developing the overarching objectives of your
concept (Section 1 of the application), make reference
to principles like Responsible Research and Innovation
and Open Science as accelerators of knowledge transfer,
and networking new knowledge.
Section 2 - Impact and Dissemination:
Provide evidence that you plan to provide open access
to all research results of the project, from research data
and software code to publications, reports and policy
briefs.
Research results:
• Publications: Depositing copies of all your projects
publications, together with the metadata, in a subject
specific or institutional repository automatically
makes the publications visible on the EC’s CORDIS
system,andassistsyouwithDisseminationReporting.
Alternatively, costs for open access publishing are
also eligible costs (if an open access journal charges
article fees)
Tip! Allpublicationsshouldbedepositedregardless
whether it is published in an open access journal or
not. Find your relevant repository here: https://www.
openaire.eu/participate/deposit-publications-data
• Data: For some disciplines the research data
pertaining to a publication also needs to be made
open,viatheEC’sOpenResearchDataPilot.Thiscovers
some Horizon 2020 projects, but not all. You need to
produce a data management plan in the proposal.
Identify a suitable discipline data repository, www.
re3data.org, or even a peer-reviewed data journal,
and put priority on issue of Digital Object Identifier
(DOI) for all your data products, so that you can
follow the behaviour of the user. See the OpenAIRE
Guide for more details: https://www.openaire.eu/oa-
in-h2020/h2020/h2020-oa-data-pilot
• Did you know? You can store data, publications and
software in a specially dedicated repository for EC
project output: www.zenodo.org.
Where can I get more information?
Further Support:
If you are in a research institution, your Knowledge
Managers and Librarians are your best advisors on what
infrastructure and support exists for each research
product along the research cycle.
Fact Sheets from the EC:
Open Access Mandate:
• http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/
h2020/grants_manual/hi/oa_pilot/h2020-hi-oa-
pilot-guide_en.pdf
• http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/
open_access/
Open Research Data Pilot:
• http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1257_
en.htm
OpenAIRE:
OpenAIRE, funded by the EC, provides a range of
services and tools for you to use, such as generating
publication lists for reporting FAQ:
https://www.openaire.eu/support/faq
It also gives supports on open access:
https://www.openaire.eu/open-access-overview/
open-access-info/overview-of-open-access
Checklist to follow during the application process

3.
www.openaire.eu
How to tackle the Impact section with mention of Open Access:
Below is an example text:
The Project consortium acknowledges that the research and new knowledge generated is of societal benefit, and could
potentiallycontributetowardsolutionsofsocietalchallenges.Assuch,theforegroundknowledgeneedstobedisseminated
in an optimum way for impact and re-use of results, according to Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI) principles1
.
Currently only 50% of research is freely accessible to the public2
, resulting in measurable loss to the knowledge-based
SME sector and slowing down innovation3
. The Project consortium will thus optimize on the dissemination and impact
of foreground along the full knowledge production chain, and integrate Open Science principles in its Dissemination &
Communication Strategy.
In support of the EC Digital Agenda4
and the Economic Growth agenda of the Innovation Union (Green Action Plan5
),
the consortium will fully integrate Grant Agreement Article 29 into its workflow at task level. Foreground data (state
diversity of data generated) will be permanently archived at generation in STATE REPOSITORY6
and publicly released and/
or published7
(with the exception of Third Party data, national security data, medical/patient data) during the lifetime of
the project8
.
Software code, tools and interfaces developed as part of the concept will be open source code and full access provided via
STATE REPOSITORY9
. Resulting research publications (refer to tasks/WP most likely to publish) will also be made openly
available via e-Infrastructure OpenAIRE10
(DG CONNECT; request letters of support), predominantly relying on the Green
Open Access strategy (self-archiving) for maximum return on investment for project and funder, and actively linked to
underlying data objects, in support of the EC Open Data Pilot11
.
For longevity of knowledge transfer and best practice uptake beyond the project lifetime, The Project will cooperate with
concurrent training initiatives within FP7 FOSTER12
(DG Research) and OpenAIRE+, and incorporate Open Science training
in any summers schools and research training workshops, to assure that the strategy is adopted by the next generation of
young researchers (refer to WP/Tasks dealing with this).
Focus will be placed on demonstrating that Open Science and RRI are not only for societal and community benefit, but
also directly support the career needs for impact, visibility and multiplying collaborations for individual researchers.
Alining the societal and research impact of knowledge generation can in the long-term bridge the gap between science
and society.
1 EC Responsible Research & Innovation http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/responsible-research-and-
innovation-leaflet_en.pdf
2 Archambault, E. et al. Proportion of OA Peer-Reviewed Papers at the European & World Levels 2004-2011. (2013). at http://www.science-
metrix.com/pdf/SM_EC_OA_Availability_2004-2011.pdf
3 Houghton, J., Swan, A., Brown, S., 2011. Access to research and technical information in Denmark [WWW Document]. URL http://www.deff.
dk/uploads/media/Access_to_Research_and_Technical_Information_in_Denmark.pdf
4 EC Digital Agenda & Access to Knowledge http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/open-access-scientific-knowledge-0
5 EC Green Action Plan for SMEs http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/4790/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/native
6 Choose a discipline-specific perennial Data Repository from http://www.re3data.org/
7 Choose likely Data Journals of relevance: e.g. Nature Scientific Data, or search http://doaj.org
8 NB: embargoes can be placed to allow project to publish/exploit first, but consortium should aim for full release by end of contract, or
justify why access needs to be restricted (publications may not be viewed favourably at review).
9 Choose a structured archive with minimum metadata requirements to allow maximum re-use e.g. GitHub, SourceForge, etc.
10 EC FP7 and Horizon2020 funded e-Infrastructure https://www.openaire.eu/ in support of EC Digital Agenda
11 EC Open Data Pilot http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-1257_en.htm
12 FP7 FOSTER, Facilitating Open Science in European Research