Open Science in Poland is originally a bottom-up movement. However, in recent years awareness of Open Access issues has been rising steadily. In 2008, members of the European University Association – among them 43 Polish higher education institutions and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland – issued their Recommendations from the EUA Working Group on Open Access, postulating the establishment of institutional repositories networked on the national and European level. In July 2013, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland have jointly published a statement in support of the Green Road to Open Access, calling for institutional repositories to be established in all scientific units in the country. Finally, in October 2015, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) issued a document entitled „Kierunki rozwoju otwartego dostępu do treści naukowych w Polsce” (in Polish only; for a discussion of this document in English see the blog post "Poland: Initial open access policy") which sets specific OA recommendations for all major stakeholders in Poland.

In March 2018, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW) published a report on the implementation of open access policy („Raport nt. realizacji polityki otwartego dostępu do publikacji naukowych w latach 2015-2017”, in Polish only). The document summarized the efforts that had been undertaken in years 2015-2017, identified barriers to open access and provided recommendations for further work. In 2018, the Polish parliament passed the Law on Higher Education and Science, the so-called Law 2.0. It provided the framework for the reform of the higher education system.