Open Science Policies - Open Access Policy

The RCAAP network (Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal) is made up of a set of repositories from institutions that are part of the project. The list of these repositories can be found here: RCAAP - Open Access Scientific Repositories of Portugal.

RCAAP is an initiative managed and operated by FCT. RCAAP aims to increase the visibility, accessibility and dissemination of the results of national academic and scientific research activity and to facilitate access to information on national scientific production on an open access basis.

The deposit of the thesis or dissertation in a repository of the RCAAP network is a condition for it to be open access.

The deposit must be made within a maximum of 60 days after the degree is awarded, and must be made by the institution that awarded the degree if it was obtained in Portugal, or by the author himself if the degree was obtained at a foreign institution.

Yes. The thesis or dissertation can be deposited cumulatively in other repositories, or in other media, such as the author's personal pages.

By applying a Creative Commons license to their thesis or dissertation, the author is creating the conditions for it to be accessible and reusable by anyone with an interest in it, thus fulfilling the purpose of making content resulting from FCT funding open access. In this way, the author makes it possible for third parties to use his or her thesis or dissertation freely, so that they can disseminate it, adapt it, etc., by crediting the author.

A Creative Commons (CC) license is a license based on an alternative model to traditional copyright, giving the author the possibility to define how he wants his work to be used by third parties and, therefore, which rights reserved for him by the traditional copyright regime are allowed to be exercised by third parties.

There are several types of Creative Commons license(About CC Licenses - Creative Commons), and the one indicated in FCT's Open Access Policy states that, as a rule, the author must associate a CC-BY, CC-BY-NC, CC-BY-ND or CC-BY-NC-ND license with their article, or equivalent, as long as it is authorized by FCT.

A license equivalent to the CC license may also be applied to the work, provided it is authorized by the FCT.

This license allows the thesis or dissertation to be copied and shared, as well as its reuse and the creation of derivative works, and authorship must always be acknowledged. More information can be found here.

This license allows the thesis or dissertation to be copied and shared, as well as reused, but prohibits its commercial use. Authorship must always be acknowledged. More information can be found here.

This license allows the thesis or dissertation to be copied and shared, as well as reused, but prohibits the creation of derivative works. Authorship must always be acknowledged. More information can be found here.

This license allows the thesis or dissertation to be copied and shared, but prohibits the creation of derivative works or their commercial use. Authorship must always be acknowledged. More information can be found here.

Although not desirable, it is allowed that the availability of doctoral theses and master's dissertations in open access in an open access repository is subject to an embargo period of 12 months.

This is justified, in particular, by the possibility that the author may want to patent some invention described in the work or intend to publish the contents of the thesis in a book.

In exceptional cases, duly justified and authorized by the FCT, namely related to the process of obtaining patents or the publication of articles or books based on the thesis or dissertation, the 12-month embargo period may be extended.

If an embargo period of more than 12 months is to be applied, the author must request authorization from the FCT by emailing politica-publicacoes@fct.pt, indicating the desired embargo period and the justification for its application.

The procedure for validating the application of an equivalent license involves submitting a request to FCT for the application of a different license. The request must be addressed to politica-publicacoes@fct.pt and identify the publication in question, the alternative license to be applied and the justification for its use. The request will be analyzed and a decision made, taking into account the context of the situation under analysis and the possible convenience or necessity of applying a license other than those mentioned.

It is a license that meets the objectives of ensuring open access to the thesis or dissertation, taking into account the context of the situation under analysis.