Portugal and FCT's position on Plan S

Portugal, through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and in particular the FCT, recognize the importance of and welcome the European initiative Plan S, promoted by Science Europe, especially for enshrining the principle that the results of publicly funded research should be available in immediate open access.

A pioneer in the international open access movement, Portugal has been at the forefront of implementing practices for making scientific publications available in open access, creating infrastructures and introducing institutional benchmarks and regulations since the early 2000s.

The MCTES has defined as a priority the commitment of science to the principles and practices of Open Science, embodied, among other documents, in the Guiding Principles for Open Science, published in February 2016, and in the Resolution of the Council of Ministers, no.º 21/2016, of April 11, 2016, which determined the guidelines for the establishment of a National Open Science Policy, namely open access to publications and scientific data resulting from publicly funded research and ensuring the preservation of scientific publications and data in order to allow their patrimonialization, reuse and continued access.          

Portugal, through the FCT, has been at the forefront in implementing actions and measures aimed at the transition to an Open Science environment, some of which are now included in Plan S, namely the publication of an Open Access Policy at the FCT with a limitation on eligibility for Article Processing Charges (APCs), the conditioning of the payment of APCs on the granting of open licenses, or the introduction of a provision in the Regulations for the Evaluation of Research Units that prevents the assessment of the merit of the units evaluated through metrics (ex. Journal Impact Factor) or encouraging the creation of research data management plans.

In this sense, FCT supports the objectives of Plan S and will actively collaborate to ensure that they are achieved, recommending that its configuration and implementation program be discussed at national and international level and above all with the scientific community, in order to guarantee an effective, equitable and sustainable transition to Open Science, pursuing the essential principles that inspire and guide it. In particular, the following are considered essential:

• To consider and value the existing networks of repositories, taking advantage of the resources they integrate and capitalizing on the investment made, recognizing that Green Open Access can be a useful and legitimate way of making published scientific information available immediately and without restrictions, in conjunction with the strengthening of copyright retention mechanisms;

• Ensuring that transition models, particularly through the "golden route", do not reinforce the monopolistic nature of the scientific publishing market. It is therefore considered essential to implement limits to be applied to APCs; 

• Strengthen positive incentive mechanisms within the framework of science evaluation and funding systems, respecting the diversity and specificity of scientific and disciplinary areas and practices;

• Recognize and adapt open access publishing models to new ways of creating and communicating science, favoring open infrastructures and services that allow portability and supporting repositories and other platforms and services originating in academic communities.

FCT believes that careful implementation of Plan S will be a significant step towards Open Access as a scholarly communication system and a major boost for Open Science as a whole, with all its potential to generate relevant benefits for Science and Society, some of which are already materializing.