By Leonidas Pispirigas and Anastasia Aritzi

The continuous advancement of technology and updates in Open Science mandates and standards shapes the evolution of Open Science. We are committed to consistently improving and optimizing our guidelines to align with this evolution, resulting in increased interoperability and compatibility. As your gateway to the global Research and Innovation ecosystem, our organisation provides access to a wide range of resources and opportunities.

Compliance with the OpenAIRE Guidelines is a prerequisite for a data source to be harvested by OpenAIRE. To integrate into the OpenAIRE Graph, content providers can leverage the OpenAIRE PROVIDE service, which enables the validation and registration of their data source(s).   
 
OpenAIRE PROVIDE plays a pivotal role within the OpenAIRE infrastructure as a fundamental service. Serving as a comprehensive web service, it acts as a one-stop-shop, facilitating the connection among content providers, OpenAIRE, and the EOSC. By utilizing OpenAIRE PROVIDE, content providers can seamlessly integrate their content into the global research community, becoming an essential building block. This service offers repository managers personalized dashboards and a suite of services aimed at enhancing metadata collections and ensuring interoperability based on globally recognized standards. 
 
By upgrading your repository to align with the latest versions of the OpenAIRE guidelines, you significantly enhance the interoperability and flexibility of the metadata of your research product. Additionally, you enhance the establishment of links and relationships with various types of research products and entities, enrich the latter with additional Persistent Identifiers for research products, the inclusion of authors ORCID iDs, and improve the subject classifications by incorporating subject schemes such as ACM and Mesh.  
 
The OpenAIRE guidelines align with the FAIR Principles. These principles outline how the research products should be organised and structured so they can be more easily accessed, understood and reused. Nowadays, numerous guidelines, tools, systems, and policies have been developed to promote and integrate FAIR practices into the everyday workflow of researchers, repositories, and data sources in general. The OpenAIRE Guidelines offer content providers a direct path to achieving FAIRness, ensuring compliance with the latest versions guarantees a sufficient level of FAIR compliance. If you are compliant with the most recent versions of the OpenAIRE Guidelines then you are also FAIR enough!

OpenAIRE serves as your gateway to the EOSC, granting you entry into its expansive ecosystem. The eagerly awaited EOSC Portal Catalogue and Marketplace integrated platform will exclusively feature registered data sources from OpenAIRE that are compatible with the OpenAIRE guidelines for Literature Repositories (versions 3.0 and 4.0). Ensuring alignment of your data source with these guidelines not only guarantees its eligibility for inclusion but also positions it to leverage the substantial influence of this platform, unlocking valuable opportunities for visibility and engagement. 

Aligning with our Strategy  
 
Over the course of its ten-year operation, OpenAIRE has established a robust socio-technical European e-Infrastructure. This infrastructure comprises a service provider, a network of expert organizations, and individuals who collectively facilitate the efficient implementation of Open Science practices, services, and policies.

Aligned with OpenAIRE's core areas since its inception, specific actions lines have been outlined to realize our strategic priorities. As part of our Strategy 2023-2025, one of the key action lines for the coming years involves the development of tools and toolkits for policies while actively contributing to the alignment of EU Open Science policies. The ongoing process of refining the OpenAIRE Guidelines is a significant component of this effort. 

Furthermore, the OpenAIRE Guidelines play a vital role in OpenAIRE's strategic approach to addressing the sustainability, openness, and modernization challenges faced by Scholarly Infrastructures, while also ensuring enhanced interoperability. These guidelines aim to meet the diverse needs and expectations of all stakeholders involved.

Visit our dedicated website and learn more:
https://www.openaire.eu/openaire-guidelines-for-literature-institutional-and-thematic-repositories