The ANR has a strong
open access policy, fully aligned with the National Plan for Open Science launched by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation in 2018. It has three main objectives:
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Promote open access to publications
As part of the ANR’s contribution to the promotion and implementation of open science, and in line with the National Plan for Open Science, the funded project coordinator and partners must undertake to submit the scientific publications (full text) resulting from the research project to an open archive, either directly in HAL or via a local institutional archive, in accordance with the conditions in article 30 of the French “For a digital republic” act. In addition, the ANR recommends giving preference to publication in open access journals or books.
Contribute to open research data wherever possible
The ANR supports European and international alignment efforts on the structure of open research data, and is guided by the principle: “as open as possible, as closed as necessary”. The Agency draws coordinators’ attention to the importance of considering data management and sharing at the project development phase. It requires all projects funded in 2019 onwards to produce a Data Management Plan (DMP) summarising what datasets the project will produce, how they will evolve, and how they will be shared, reused and perpetuated.
In the interest of consistency, the ANR follows the recommendations of the Committee for Open Science (CoSO), which it has consulted on this matter. It uses the Science Europe DMP template, which aims to promote the international alignment of research data. The Agency has worked closely with the French Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (INIST) to ensure that its DMP template is integrated into the
OPIDoR DMP tool, so that plans can be completed online:
https://dmp.opidor.fr/public_templatesThe template is intended for all of the ANR’s beneficiaries, in accordance with their discipline-specific requirements. The ANR must receive it within six months of the start of the scientific research work. The plan will be updated as the project progresses in accordance with the procedures set out in the grant allocation document and the ANR financial regulation.
Coordinate efforts at the national, European and international levels
At the national level
The Agency works with members of the wider French research and innovation community (funding agencies, research bodies, alliances, etc.) to better define and coordinate efforts to promote open access to publications and data. The ANR is represented on the steering committee of the Committee for Open Science’s permanent secretariat.
At the European and international levels
The ANR is also involved in various cross-border initiatives, where it upholds France’s position in favour of open science and bibliodiversity. It is a member of cOAlition S, which brings together several funding bodies to accelerate the transition to full and immediate access to scientific publications, and it supports the Plan S. The Agency is also a member of the French GO FAIR office.