Open Science Policies - Open Access Policy

Open access is the publication of a doctoral thesis or master's dissertation on 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 thesis or dissertation 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 theses or dissertations, 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.