Monitoring a national open access funder mandate

Abstract

Acknowledging the benefits associated with open access (OA) to scientific literature, the Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCT), the national funding agency for science in Portugal, defined an OA policy that aims at ensuring free, online access to publications arising from FCT-funded research. Key to the implementation of FCT OA policy is the existence of a solid and mature repository infrastructure, the Scientific Open Access Repository of Portugal – RCAAP. Furthermore, RCAAP is part of PTCRIS, an integrated research information ecosystem whose holistic vision of the research information landscape allow us to link implementation of FCT OA mandate to added value services, with great benefits for the research community. In these paper, we describe the strategy adopted to implement and monitor a funder's OA mandate in an unprecedented integrated manner, using ground-breaking technical solutions built upon an existing infrastructure to address new challenges.