Open Science Policies - Open Access Policy

Open access is the publication of a book, book chapter, or monograph on publishers' websites, platforms, or repositories, accessible via the Internet, free of charge and without content restrictions for those who access it, and, ideally, without the application of embargo periods. In other words, from the moment of publication or deposit, the book, book chapter, or monograph is accessible to anyone who wishes to consult it immediately or, if an embargo period is applied, after that period has elapsed. Open access also implies the possibility of reusing the content of publications. Reuse must be subject to correct attribution of authorship and origin.

Open access publishing allows for very wide dissemination of research results, thereby contributing to the spread of access to scientific knowledge, increased visibility of scientific output and authors [1] of books, book chapters, or monographs, and also promoting scientific cooperation and the advancement of science.

[1] Read as ‘authors’. In these FAQs, references to the masculine gender should be understood as indicated in this wording, with the respective adaptations, although this formulation has not been adopted in the full text to facilitate reading.

In addition to the reasons mentioned in the previous point, FCT adopts an open access policy because it believes that research funded by public funds, such as those it grants as part of its mission to finance scientific activity in Portugal, should produce results that are in the public domain, freely accessible and reusable by all, thereby enhancing scientific cooperation and the advancement of science, as well as increased visibility for scientific output and its authors.

All of this led FCT to join Plan S, which advocates open access publication of books, book chapters, and monographs funded by participating entities.

Plan S is an initiative promoted by cOAlition S that aims to ensure that all publications resulting from research funded by participating institutions, including FCT, are published in open access or made available through open access repositories without embargo.

Additional information can be found here: Plan S Principles | Plan S (coalition-s.org)