Reflections from the 4th OECD Blue Sky Forum on STI Data and Indicators It has been about a month since the 4th OECD Blue Sky Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Data and Indicators in Paris, and I have been meaning to put down a few thoughts from those three days. Blue Sky is quite a unique gathering. Bringing together researchers, policymakers, statisticians and data practitioners from around the world, it offers a rare opportunity to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions and thi...

Over the past months, more and more members have told us they are thinking about citizen science. Their institutions want to start projects, but aren't sure where to begin. So for our September Catch Up session we asked a practical question: how can universities and research libraries support citizen science? Two colleagues from our community shared their experience. Susanne Blumesberger coordinates the new Coordination Centre for Science Communication and Citizen Science at the University of Vi...

As Pauli Assinen prepares to retire, the OpenAIRE community is saying farewell to a colleague who has been part of its journey for many years.From representing Finland as a National Open Access Desk (NOAD) to contributing to OpenAIRE's governance and development, Pauli has brought a thoughtful, pragmatic and collaborative approach to his work. His colleagues remember not only his expertise and attention to detail, but also his kindness, humour and willingness to support those around him.As he be...

On 16-17 September 2026, representatives of ARION's 14 participating organisations, together with colleagues contributing through DORA's role as a strategic global partner in responsible research assessment, met in Athens for the official kick-off of a new Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action, coordinated by OpenAIRE. The meeting marked the start of a project focused on addressing a key challenge in research assessment reform; translating principles and commitments into ...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's 2026 State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech this week highlighted that Europe's future global influence depends on its ability to secure technological independence, drive innovation and protect its digital sovereignty. Yet, scientific knowledge, despite being at the heart of this competitive autonomy, often remains overlooked. Considering that Europe aims for full ownership and control of its own research data, it is crucial to t...

France has launched its Open Science Strategy 2026–2033, setting out the country's priorities for the next eight years and marking a new phase in its national open science policy. Since the first French National Plan for Open Science was launched in 2018, France has developed a strong national ecosystem around open access, research data, software and open science infrastructures. The new strategy builds on these achievements while broadening the scope of open science across the research lifecycl...

On 16 September, Paolo Manghi, OpenAIRE CTO and researcher at CNR-ISTI, presented the OpenAIRE Graph at the University of Ferrara during the third edition of "Abbracciare il futuro. Fare Scienza Aperta oggi".Organised by the University's Bibliometrics and Databases Office, the event brought together experts to discuss responsible research, Open Access and the digital challenges facing universities.The programme approached Open Science from complementary perspectives. The first session addressed ...

On 4 September 2026, CWTS Leiden hosted the seminar "Collective action for open research information: introducing ORION-DBs and a new FORCE11 working group." The session brought together Cameron Neylon, Bianca Kramer, Alysson Fernandes Mazoni, Rodrigo Costas, Nees Jan van Eck and Najko Jahn to present a collaboration that has been developing for more than a year, and a new FORCE11 working group intended to give it a longer-term structure. If you work anywhere near scientometrics or open research...

During geopolitical, health, and environmental crises, digital spaces that promised to increase democratic dialogue and ease information sharing are now increasingly used to manipulate public perception and misinform. Open Science offers an important defence against this information environment by making the evidence behind research more visible, traceable and open to scrutiny. When data, methods and research outputs can be examined and reused, questionable claims are easier to challenge and sci...

Designing an Open Science policy is one thing. Getting it adopted, implemented, and monitored inside a real institution is another. That gap is what the OpenAIRE Open Science Policy Training Programme was built to close, and the response to its first edition showed just how widely that gap is felt. A competitive and diverse first cohort We received 64 applications for the first run of the programme. From these, 22 participants were selected based on evaluations by three independent experts. The ...

Earlier this year, an international team of researchers published the BuyTheBy dataset, shedding light on the dark economy of academic fraud. The dataset lists 18,710 text-based advertisements from commercial "paper mills" operating across seven countries. More than 20,000 specific academic authorship positions were offered for sale in those ads across thousands of fake scientific products. "Paper mills" are fraudulent organisations that produce entirely fake scientific manuscripts and submit th...

Going back to UNESCO Headquarters for the first Global Conference of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development meant something specific to me. A few years ago, as President of Eurodoc, I took part in the consultation that fed into the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, arguing for the importance of open infrastructures, a point that made it into the final text. This time, I was in Paris representing OpenAIRE and discussing the practical work of building and connecting ...

OpenAIRE successfully concluded another edition of its flagship five-day online train-the-trainer bootcamp for Open Science trainers. Organised twice a year, the bootcamp continues to provide a dedicated learning environment for professionals seeking to strengthen their knowledge of Open Science while developing effective, learner-centred training practices. As in previous editions, participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive, highlighting not only the quality of the content but also the hi...

The University of Tartu is taking significant steps to strengthen Open Science and research data management support across all disciplines. Supported by funding from the University of Tartu Development Fund, the University of Tartu Library established in March 2025 a cross-disciplinary Open Science Competence Network and developing a university-wide support system for research data management and Open Science-related questions.The initiative marks a new phase in the university's efforts to embed...

Following the March General Assembly, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) has joined the OpenAIRE network, further strengthening a community committed to advancing Open Science across Europe.To mark the occasion, we spoke with Maria Constantin, Open Access Officer at EUR and lead of the Diamond Open Access Expertise Centre. In this interview, she shares her perspective on Diamond Open Access, emerging publication models, and the practical realities of making knowledge more accessible.  Can y...

OpenAIRE warmly thanks and sends our well wishes to Biljana Kosanović, long-standing NOAD for Serbia, as she prepares to retire at the end of the month. Over the years, Biljana has played an important role in strengthening Open Science in Serbia and across the wider regional community. Through her expertise, dedication, patience, and generosity, she has supported institutions, colleagues, and partners in advancing shared practices, building connections, and making Open Science more visible and m...

OpenAIRE contributed to the discussion on the future of research assessment at the 18th Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries International Conference (QQML2026), held from 26–29 May 2026 at the University of Bucharest, Romania.During the conference's Open Systems session, Leonidas Pispiringas presented the paper" Open Infrastructure for Research Assessment: A FAIR-Aligned Framework for Researcher Profiles derived from the OpenAIRE Graph", in the "Open Systems" session, chaired by Ma...

A new milestone has been reached in the development of open educational resources for higher education in France: the open interactive ebook Introduction to Legal Studies (Initiation aux études juridiques) is now freely available online for students, teachers and institutions. The project was developed through a partnership between the Bibliothèque interuniversitaire Cujas, the Institut de recherche juridique de la Sorbonne, Éditions Nouveau Monde and Numérique Premium, with the support of the C...

An invitation from Laura Himanen, a long-standing collaborator through CoARA's OI4RRA Working Group (Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment) and the GraspOS project, brought OpenAIRE to the 3rd Nordic Bibliometric Infrastructure Spring Meeting. What came as a genuine surprise was the discovery of a thriving and eagerly growing community working on research intelligence with a level of seriousness rare to find. The meeting crystallised something OpenAIRE has long argued: researc...

The French consortium Couperin has long been actively engaged in supporting open science infrastructures, fostering both their development and their uptake by the scientific community. In this context, it has steadily strengthened and diversified its support offer for its member institutions. This momentum is reflected in a significant increase in the number of proposals submitted, rising from two in 2019 to twenty-four in 2025, illustrating both the expansion of the scope of supported...