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Research Funders | Preparing Policy
The following aspects should be addressed by funders in the process of developing and implementing a policy for open access to research data:
- Knowledge of international policies to assess position and standing in terms of policies, infrastructures, practices and degree of participation in international fora.
- Participation in dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders at the national level, and minimally, with research institution administration, researchers and particular disciplinary communities (e.g. scholarly societies), data managers, publishers.
- Assessment of national existing, as well as further required infrastructure to support policy implementation.
- Assessment of related policy-implementation costs for research data management during projects, long-term curation and preservation, infrastructure development, funding for innovative, disciplinary, education, training and awareness activities and earmark dedicated funds.
- Policy content. Policies should be developed with open access as the default. These policies should be explicit and publicly available and address a number of recommended issues (cf. developing policy content for more information on policy content).
- Data Management in grant applications. Where data is generated, data management plans (DPMs) should form an essential element of the grant proposal, be resourced adequately, be reviewed and their delivery monitored.
- Provision for relevant open access clause in grant agreements. Grant agreement should include clauses on open access to research data, accompanied by the description of sanction mechanisms in cases of non-compliance, as well as clarification of related costs that are eligible.
- Guidance to researchers. Funders should develop appropriate tools such as templates for data management and resources on data management and DMPs, and specify the criteria for eligible repositories/data centers for data deposit.
- Rewards to researchers. Beyond a mandatory policy, further measures can assist in changing research cultures such as the award of prizes for high-quality data or through events that focus on highlighting and communicating success stories on data sharing and re-use.
- Policy monitoring mechanisms. Funders should establish clear monitoring and compliance mechanisms in planning a policy, as well as mechanisms to measure policy efficiency with appropriate indicators that will afford corrective measures, if necessary.
