Open science is a matter of factoring openness into the entire research process, from collecting or generating data through to means of assessment. Open science goes further than popularisation or outreach. It encompasses all the methods and tools enabling free, permanent access to research findings.

On the contrary, the more accessible, visible, and valued a document, the more flagrant any fraud becomes, and the easier it is to prove authorship. Open access in fact only increases the likelihood of being cited. Equally, anti-plagiary software detects plagiary more readily for open access publications.

Depositing publications on HAL is quick and may be done as soon as you receive the author’s version, even if an embargo is required. It significantly increases visibility. While it is true that data needs to be managed rigorously, this also guarantees a project, by making data secure and easy to reuse subsequently, including by the original researcher. It takes little extra time to adopt good practices from the outset, and saves time when data is shared. The SOcle team are there to help you.

Publications are already accessible to everyone in libraries. Clearly labelling data and documenting the context reduces the risk of misinterpretation. The author is cited in all cases, and retains moral rights over their work.

The development of open science has encouraged many paid journals brought out by major publishers to alter their economic model. Particularly for French HASS journals, the drop in subscriptions has led them to envisage an open access online model (as supported by the CNRS). Institutional funding (via regional and national initiatives such as PERGOLA and OpenEdition) offers alternative forms of publishing, with the financial backing of libraries too.

Certain online journals have acquired a significant profile, and are indexed in benchmark disciplinary databases. Other prestigious journals have moved over to an open access model. CNU criteria on this point are evolving too.

For articles in the humanities and social sciences, the Loi pour une république numérique (digital republic law) entitles all authors to deposit the author’s version in open access after one year. For books and papers for conference proceedings, it is possible to enter into dialogue with the publisher. Under Plan S, to be eligible for EU or ANR funding under calls for proposals, authors will be obliged to immediately publish/disseminate in open access (sometimes after paying Article Processing Charges (APC)). Under this law, data is considered as public and, in most cases, as the property of establishments, not researchers, and hence to be made openly available by default.