European academic and research organisations call for open science to be a pillar of the ERA Act
Six European organisations representing universities, research-performing organisations, libraries, scholarly infrastructures and academies of sciences and humanities have published a statement calling for accelerated progress in the future ERA
European Research Area
Act to achieve open science.
The six organisations argue that while some policy progress has been made, substantial "financial, linguistic and geographic inequalities" continue to hinder a truly equitable research landscape. The statement says that open science should be the core of the fifth freedom (the free circulation of knowledge across borders).
The six are All European Academies (ALLEA), Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER), European Research Infrastructure for the development of open scholarly communication in the social sciences and humanities (OPERAS), and Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC Europe).
By adhering to FAIR
findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability
(Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles, the coalition asserts that open science enhances the "reproducibility, transparency and trustworthiness" of science, which in turn "strengthens evidence-based policymaking and democracy".
However, the authors warn that the current trajectory is hampered by fragmented implementation. "Progress remains uneven across countries, institutions and disciplines due to economic, structural and policy differences," the statement notes, calling for an urgent reduction in "economic, organisational and legal barriers".
Tackling the "unsustainable" publishing landscape
A major takeaway from the document is a sharp critique of current Open Access (OA) publishing models. The coalition labels the current landscape as "economically unsustainable and inequitable," specifically citing how APC (Article Processing Charge) and BPC (Book Processing Charge) models create "disproportionate financial and administrative burdens".
To counter this, the groups advocate:
- A shift toward not-for-profit and publicly governed models, such as Diamond Open Access;
- The implementation of a "Secondary Publication Right," which would allow researchers to disseminate publicly funded work without embargoes or extra charges;
- Protection against "contractual or technical override" by commercial publishers, ensuring researchers and institutions retain the rights to share and reuse their own outputs.
Digital sovereignty and infrastructure
The statement highlights a growing concern regarding Europe’s dependence on "proprietary systems," which pose risks to cost control and long-term data access. The coalition calls for the strengthening of "federated open infrastructures" to reinforce "European digital sovereignty," particularly concerning research data and metadata.
This includes a push for the further development of the European Open Science Cloud and a requirement for research information to be open and reusable to ensure "transparency, resilience and independence".
Reforming research assessment
The signatories also highlight how scientific careers are evaluated. They argue that current systems rely too heavily on "commercial quantitative metrics", which reinforce systemic inequalities.
Instead, they urge a transition toward frameworks like CoARA that "recognise diverse outputs and open practices" and "balance the responsible use of quantitative indicators with qualitative evaluation".
A Legislative window of opportunity
With the ERA Act currently under consultation, the coalition views this as a "timely opportunity" to codify these changes into law. They emphasise that for the EU to remain "globally competitive", it must foster a research ecosystem that is "responsibly open, innovative, resilient, inclusive and strategically autonomous".
The statement concludes that open science is no longer a niche policy preference but a "foundational component of a high-performing, secure and future-proof European research system".
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