Open Science Policies - Open Access Policy

Scientific articles, books, book chapters and monographs, master's dissertations, and doctoral theses.

The following articles are considered scientific articles subject to open access publication requirements:

• Accepted for publication followingpeer review or scientific validation processes, including review articles and conference papers.

Preprints, particularly those that undergo peer review, facilitate scientific collaboration and are a tool for the rapid and comprehensive dissemination of science.

However, there are challenges and concerns to consider when dealing with these peer-reviewed preprints. One of them is practical and has to do with the fact that it is sometimes very difficult to verify whether a preprint has been peer-reviewed. On the other hand, it is equally difficult to ascertain the robustness and seriousness of the peer review processes associated with a preprint, since, unlike articles published in journals, for example, they do not have an editorial decision that, in a way, validates the peer review.

For these reasons, peer-reviewed preprints are not subject to open access policies of entities similar to FCT.

Thus, although the relevance of peer-reviewed preprints is recognized and it is considered that, once the practical difficulties pointed out have been overcome, they should be covered by the Policy, at this stage, their inclusion could contribute to the discrediting of the Policy, with a real risk that it would endorse content that does not meet the scientific quality and soundness expected following a serious peer review process.

There are three possible ways to comply with the open access policy:

Via Dourada – Publication of the article in a journal or open access platform

Via Verde – Deposit of an article published in closed access in an open access repository of the RCAAP network

Transformative Route – Publication of the article in a hybrid journal under a transformative agreement

On the Policy support website, developed by FCT, you can consult the Journal Checker Tool: Plan S Compliance Validator, in order to obtain information about the channels available for open access publication, by entering the name of the journal in which you wish to publish, the name of the funder, in this case FCT, and the name of the institution to which you are affiliated.

In cases where the article is published in an open access journal or platform.

In these cases, payment of a publication fee, commonly known as an Article Processing Charge (APC), may be required. This fee may be considered an eligible expense under the FCT funding instrument.

When the article:

a) is published in a closed-access journal

b) is published in a hybrid journal, outside the context of a transformative agreement

c) Is not published in a scientific journal, but is subject to a peer review process

When the article is published under a transformative agreement in a hybrid journal.

FCT signs transformative agreements with several publishers under the Online Knowledge Library (b-on) initiative. The possibility of open access publication under these agreements is limited to authors affiliated with one of the institutions participating in b-on. The list of these institutions is available here: Members (b-on.pt).

These transformative agreements allow for open access publishing, with limits that vary from publisher to publisher. Information about the characteristics of each agreement can be found here Open Access (b-on.pt).

Publication under this route is also possible within the framework of transformative agreements that may be entered into by entities other than the FCT and which cover, within their scope of application, the institution to which the author is affiliated.

Open access publication in hybrid journals is also possible outside the framework of a transformative agreement, in which case such publication entails the payment of a fee (APC). The payment of this APC is strongly discouraged in these situations and, therefore, APCs paid outside the framework of a transformative agreement in hybrid journals are not considered eligible expenses under FCT funding instruments. The aim is to avoid so-called double dipping, i.e., a double source of revenue for publishers, on the one hand from charging APCs for placing articles in open access and, on the other hand, from charging a subscription price for hybrid journals where these articles are published.

Therefore, if the author intends to publish in a hybrid journal outside the scope of a transformative agreement, it is strongly recommended that this publication be made in closed access and that the author ensures compliance with the open access policy through the green route.

A transformative journal is a journal in the process of transforming into an open access journal, through a progressive increase in the percentage of articles published in open access.

Open access publication in a transformative journal, upon payment of an APC, is not considered compatible with the FCT Open Access Policy because the APCs required for publication of this type of article are usually very high and because this payment gives rise to so-called double dipping, i.e., a double source of revenue for publishers: one from the APC payment and one from the journal subscription fee.

Articles resulting from total or partial funding from the FCT must be published in open access, using one of the three methods permitted by the Policy.

In exceptional cases, publishers may not offer the possibility of using any of the available channels to comply with the FCT Open Access Policy. In such cases, authors may seek support and advice from the institution to which they are affiliated or, where such support cannot be provided, from the FCT itself, on the best way to comply with the Policy. Possible avenues include contacting the publisher to raise awareness of the need to accommodate the requirements of the FCT Open Access Policy or identifying an alternative journal for publication.

Yes, the open access policy applies to articles resulting from full or partial funding from the FCT.

The Policy applies to publications resulting from FCT funding. Authors of publications that do not fall within this scope are not required to comply with it.

Yes, all publications resulting from FCT funding, even if this funding only applies to some or a few of the authors, must comply with the FCT Open Access Policy. Authors funded by the FCT must make this obligation clear to their co-authors.

No.

The possibility of open access publication under transformative agreements exists for any author affiliated with an institution covered by these agreements. Thus, any author affiliated with a b-on member institution may publish in open access under the transformative agreements entered into by FCT within the framework of b-on, regardless of the FCT open access policy to which they are bound.

Similarly, an author may apply retention of rights to their article, on their own initiative, even if it is covered by the Policy on Open Access to Scientific Publications Resulting from R&D Projects Funded by FCT, adopted on May 5, 2014. In other words, although not bound by the applicable FCT funding instruments, the author may, on their own initiative, retain their rights and not transfer them to the publisher.

Some content results from participation in conferences and is published by publishers exclusive to the conference. If the publisher does not publish the content in open access, the author should seek to promote the publication of their work in open access under the green route, i.e., by retaining rights to the accepted manuscript (AAM) and subsequently depositing it in an RCAAP network repository. If the work in question is, or forms part of, a book (has an ISBN), the Policy establishes its inapplicability when the publisher is a partner, sponsor, or organizer of a conference that results in the production of a book, book chapter, or monograph and opposes the publication of the accepted manuscript (AAM) in open access.