Strategic Planning and Developing Open Access

2. Implementation of Open Access into Higher Education Institution Policies

Introducing open access (OA) into the policies of higher education institutions is crucial for the modernisation of the scientific and educational system. Open access ensures that scientific papers, research data, and educational materials are available to everyone, promoting a faster flow of information, collaboration, and innovation. Achieving this requires a strategic approach to implementing open access at all institutional levels.

Successful implementation of open access depends on clearly defined strategic elements within the policies of higher education institutions. The following are key strategic elements aimed at fostering open access:

• Mandatory open access policy: institutions should adopt policies that mandate researchers and teachers to publish peer-reviewed papers and, where appropriate, research data in open access. This can be achieved through institutional repositories or thematic repositories.
• Support and infrastructure: providing adequate technical infrastructure, such as reliable institutional repositories, is crucial for the implementation of openness policies. Additionally, higher education institutions should provide support to researchers and teachers through education on open practices, legal aspects of open access, and copyright management.
• Open access funding: institutional budgets should provide funds to cover the costs of open access publishing. Funding from national and European projects should also be planned.
• Integration into evaluation systems: the system for evaluating scientific work and professional advancement should recognize open access publishing and the sharing of research data. This would encourage scientists to embrace OA practices.

• Open Educational Resources (OER): higher education institutions should encourage the development and use of open educational resources, which includes creating materials that are accessible, adaptable, and reusable, thereby reducing the costs of studying and improving access to quality education.

Figure 3: Generated by Gemini AI Tool