Publicly-funded scientific research should be freely accessible on the internet through one of two publisher funding models, says Commission

The Commission said that 'open access' should either be given to the research published in scientific journals or through self-archiving systems operated by the researcher. Publishers' interests would be protected by using one of two funding models around that 'open access', it added.

The Commission outlined its moves towards open access to publicly-funded research just a day after the UK Government had outlined a similar approach.

"The vision underlying the Commission’s strategy on open data and knowledge circulation is that information already paid for by the public purse should not be paid for again each time it is accessed or used, and that it should benefit European companies and citizens to the full," the Commission said in a communication document (12-page / 50KB PDF). "This means making publicly-funded scientific information available online, at no extra cost, to European researchers and citizens via sustainable e-infrastructures, also ensuring long-term access to avoid losing scientific information of unique value."

"Wide, fair, sustainable and easy access to publicly-funded scientific information and its sustainable preservation for re-use can make a significant contribution to Europe’s economic growth and help it address the societal challenges of the 21st century," it added.

The Commission said it would "draw up common principles and standards" around 'open access' for the operation of the policy in the EU member states and that it would be "leading by example" by making all of the articles produced following funding from the EU's 'Horizon 2020' research and support programme accessible on open access terms from 2014.

The Commission has outlined two potential funding models that remunerate publishers for their part in providing open access to publicly-funded research. Currently many publishers charge subscription fees for access to their articles.

Research paper authors, or the institutions that back their research, can pay the publishing costs associated with providing open access to the material in order to remunerate publishers, the Commission said. Alternatively authors can self-archive the work and provide free access to it even where publishers place an embargo on the release of that information to enable them to benefit from subscriptions to their service where the material is available sooner, it added.

"It is perceived that moving too fast towards open access may destabilise the scientific publishing sector and thus the scientific information system," the Commission said. "A shift towards open access must take into account that the process of selecting, reviewing and publishing articles has a cost."

"This can be done by providing funds for open access publishing (‘Gold’ open access) and by ensuring that researchers who self-archive (‘Green’ open access) meet funders’ requirements even when agreeing to embargo periods during which the publishers can generate revenue through subscriptions. The transition towards open access must be coordinated and transparent. In the case of the ‘Gold’ model, any increased expenditure must be accompanied by a proportional decrease in subscription costs," it said.

The Commission said it would "continue its dialogue" with stakeholders and monitor how 'open access' affects the various groups, such as scientific publishers and researchers as well as businesses and the public that would have access to the information. It said it wants 60% of European publicly-funded research articles to be available under open access by 2016.

The Commission said it would "promote open access to research data", such as "experimental results, observations and computer-generated information" and launch a "pilot framework" through its Horizon 2020 programme " taking into account legitimate concerns in relation to privacy, commercial interests and questions related to large data volumes."

It will also work towards forming new electronic infrastructure systems "to host and share scientific information" that would be "interoperable" with other European or global systems, it added.

"Taxpayers should not have to pay twice for scientific research and they need seamless access to raw data," Neelie Kroes, EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, said in a statement. "We want to bring dissemination and exploitation of scientific research results to the next level. Data is the new oil."