So, what does the University of Antwerp do considering Open Science and Open Access?
- Well, our department of Research, Innovation & Valorisation (RIVA) emphasizes data management plans, research data management, open peer review, researcher evaluation, open lab notes, etc.
- Several departments organize Open Science activities.
- At our library, we evaluate ‘read and publish’ deals with academic publishers. We report about Open Access for different faculties. Papers from our researchers are bundled via the Institutional Repository (IR). If they’re published behind a paywall, Belgian legislation provides a way to make them Open Access, the so-called “Green Open Access”. This is done semi-automatically through the IR. We stake part in various national consultation groups on Open Access, metadata, channeling research data to FRIS, etc.
- And of course, we annually organize the Open Access Week!
If you want to learn all about Open Science and Open Access in research, Antwerp is one of the places to be in October. From the 24th until the 27th you can take part in all sorts of activities:
On Monday, there’s an introduction on Open Science with a panel discussion about the future of academic publishing.
On Tuesday we’ll be talking about Open Science and Open Access in research and we’re having the first session of the Open Access Game – a board game designed for students.
Wednesday there’s an Open Access introduction and a lecture about Open Peer review.
Thursday we’ll be playing the Open Access Game with students of our Antwerp City Campus.
Find all activities here. There are some you can take part in online too. Hope to welcome you (virtually) in Antwerp!
