As artificial intelligence continues to transform the research landscape, repositories are facing new challenges created by the unprecedented increase in automated access to scholarly content. To help the community respond, OpenAIRE has launched a new Working Group on AI Bots and Repositories.
Bringing together technical experts, repository managers, infrastructure providers, and policy specialists, the group will explore practical and sustainable approaches to managing AI-driven traffic while ensuring that openness, transparency, and public interest remain at the heart of scholarly communication.
The need for a coordinated response
Repositories play a critical role in making research outputs openly available and discoverable. However, the rapid growth of AI-driven services is placing new demands on these infrastructures. Members across the OpenAIRE community have reported increasing levels of automated traffic, concerns about system performance, and uncertainty around how repository content is being accessed and reused by AI systems.
While individual repositories are already experimenting with measures such as traffic filtering, rate limiting, and access controls, there is currently no shared community framework for addressing these challenges. The Working Group was established to help develop a coordinated response that reflects the needs and values of the Open Science community.
From technical challenges to governance questions
The Working Group will examine the issue from multiple perspectives. While technical solutions are an important part of the discussion, members recognise that the challenge extends beyond infrastructure alone.
Questions around licensing, machine-readable rights, digital sovereignty, and the responsible reuse of scholarly content are becoming increasingly important as AI systems play a larger role in research and knowledge discovery. The group will therefore explore both practical mitigation measures and longer-term approaches that can help repositories maintain control over how their content is accessed and used.
Among the areas under consideration are,
- Technical measures for managing bot traffic
- Use of machine-readable rights frameworks such as ODRL
- Development of shared approaches to monitoring AI-related activity across repositories.
Exploring new models for access and reuse
One of the topics the group will investigate is the potential role of trusted content hubs or gateways. Rather than requiring AI systems to harvest content directly from thousands of individual repositories, such models could provide coordinated access points that reduce pressure on local infrastructure while supporting transparency, compliance, and community governance.
This work aligns closely with broader developments in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), where federated infrastructures, shared governance models, and interoperable services are helping to build a more connected and sustainable research ecosystem. By exploring common approaches to AI access and content reuse, the Working Group aims to contribute to discussions taking place across the wider Open Science landscape.
A focused mandate for 2026
The Working Group has been established with a clear and time-bound mandate. Throughout 2026, members will collect evidence from repositories, document the impact of AI-related traffic, assess potential technical and policy responses, and evaluate their feasibility, governance requirements, costs, and legal implications.
The group's objective is to deliver a recommendation to the OpenAIRE Executive Board by Q4 2026, alongside a roadmap for future action. By the end of the year, it aims to produce at least one practical output for the community, such as technical guidance, a governance model, or a policy framework that repositories can adopt and build upon.
The group's first meeting, held in May, confirmed both the urgency of the challenge and the value of addressing it collectively. Participants agreed that no single repository can solve these issues alone and that coordinated action will be essential as AI continues to reshape the research landscape.
Supporting OpenAIRE's strategic vision
The launch of the Working Group also responds to the priorities outlined in the OpenAIRE Strategy 2026-2028. In particular, it contributes to OpenAIRE's commitment to championing responsible AI in research, building trusted scholarly communication infrastructures, and ensuring legal clarity for responsible Open Science.
By bringing together expertise from across the community, the group will help develop practical, community-driven approaches that keep openness, transparency, and public interest at the centre of scholarly communication. As its work progresses, findings and outputs will be shared with the wider OpenAIRE community, helping repositories navigate the opportunities and challenges of an increasingly AI-driven research ecosystem.
