The University of Bergen Policy for Open Science

Access to trustworthy information is an important condition for a well-functioning democracy and a free exchange of ideas. Open access to scientific publications and peer reviewed artistic research makes it possible to share, disseminate and use research for researchers, institutions, businesses, and society.

The goal of the University of Bergen is to make scientific publications openly available. Research articles are to be made openly available through publication channels that offer open access to the publications or in open repositories. The goal is also to make monographs, anthology articles and artistic research openly available.

The following rights retention policy applies to scholarly articles:

• UiB has a non-exclusive right to make all scholarly articles authored by employees and students affiliated with UiB available under the terms of a Creative Commons license.
• Employees and students may request a waiver of the policy for a particular article. The waiver request does not need to be explained.
• UiB will make the scholarly articles openly available in the institutional repository. For articles that are published open access under a Creative Commons license, the published version will be made available with the license it is published under. For articles that are not published open access, the author accepted manuscript will be made available by default with a Creative Commons Attribution – CC BY license.
• The Rector is responsible for interpreting this policy and resolving disputes concerning its interpretation and application.

UiB will promote open access to scientific publications in national and international networks and collaborations. UiB will support development of infrastructures which provide open access with minimal administrative workload on researchers.

UiB has established the following principles for open access to research publications and artistic research:

• Researchers shall upload their research articles in Cristin, with the aim of making them openly available in an open repository. The version of the article to be uploaded is the author's accepted manuscript. Currently this request only applies to research articles, but researchers are encouraged to also upload scientific monographs and anthology articles.
• UiB will support initiatives to develop infrastructures to make artistic research openly available.
• Researchers and students shall have access to relevant training and guidance to open access.
• When choosing between publication channels of equal academic quality, researchers must choose publication channels that offer open access to the publication, either by open access publishing or by allowing open access through a repository.
• In negotiations with publishers UiB shall ensure that the agreements promote open access to research articles.
• UiB shall in national and international collaborations work towards an economical sustainable transition from a subscription model towards an open and well-functioning publication model.
• Publications that are a result of externally funded projects will comply with the funders’ guidelines and mandates to open access. Simultaneously, UiB will work to ensure that funders financing research at the institution adhere to UiB’s principles for open access to research publications.   
• UiB will facilitate open access to research publications through the open repository Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA), through hosting of open access journals and through funding to publish open access articles and books.
• Master students and PhD candidates are encouraged to make their master theses and PhD theses openly available in BORA. If immediate open access conflicts with future publishing or ongoing research theses can be made available after an embargo period.

Obtaining, processing, analysing, and producing research data is a vital and extensive part of UiB’s activity. Research data is of great value to the institution and society at large, and it is important that data is shared as openly as possible between academic disciplines, technologies, and sectors, in compliance with legal regulations.

The goal of the University of Bergen is that data resulting from research activity should be made readily available for reuse in accordance with FAIR-principles[2]. Researchers are encouraged to make their data openly available as early as possible in the research process. Archiving and making the data openly available must be done in accordance with legal regulations on personal privacy, information security, business secrets and intellectual property rights (IPR).   

UiB will promote open access to research data and the FAIR principles in national and international networks and collaborations.

UiB has established the following principles for open access to research data.

• Research data should be managed and curated to take full advantage of their potential.
• Decisions concerning archiving and management of research data must be taken within the research community.
• Researchers and students at UiB will have access to relevant training and guidance in research data management.
• All research projects lead by researchers at UiB will have a data management plan.
• Researchers will have access to analyses- and archiving solutions that ensures sufficient protection of sensitive data, and to archiving solutions that ensures that the data is preserved and made available for future sharing.
• UiB will see to it that non-sensitive research data can be archived and made available in the generic archive UiB Open Research Data. SAFE is a service for collecting and analysing sensitive data and can be used for data that must be shielded during the research process and all types of sensitive data which cannot be openly available.
• Students and PhD candidates are encouraged to make their research data available when submitting their master or PhD theses.
• Research communities at UiB will contribute to the development of appropriate solutions to archive and make available research data within their disciplines.      

_{[2] The first two bullet points are national principles: National strategy on access to and sharing of research data
FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable
The first two bullet points are national principles: National strategy on access to and sharing of research data}

Open innovation is an exchange of ideas and knowledge that takes place between enterprises, sectors, and stakeholders with the purpose of developing new products, services, and forms of practice. This entails that innovation processes do not happen in closed projects but are organized in open collaboration between different stakeholders.   

Open innovation is a developing field within academic institutions and developing new knowledge and practices will thus be central to UiB’s approach.

UiB will promote open innovation in national and international collaborations and networks.

UiB will:

• Actively utilize the potential of collaboration in UiB’s knowledge clusters, participation in business clusters and collaboration with business actors and the public sector.
• Actively participate in and utilize new measures that are being developed to enhance openness in innovation by the Research Council of Norway, Innovation Norway, the European Union, DIKU and others.
• Promote and stimulate interest and knowledge about open innovation in the organization, through the faculties and in established forums for innovation.
• Incorporate principles of openness in the culture and practice of innovation in the organization.
• Ensure at intellectual property rights are protected in open innovation processes where UiB is participating.

Open educational resources are a part of the scientific production at the University of Bergen and important for the dissemination of knowledge. The goal of the University of Bergen is that researchers and students shall develop, publish, and use open educational resources as an integrated part of the research-based education. Open educational resources are resources developed for teaching purposes which are made digitally available for sharing and reuse.    

Open educational resources can improve the education and strengthen the learning opportunities for all.

UiB has established the following principles for open educational resources:

• UiB shall implement a digital platform for sharing open and quality assured educational resources.
• UiB shall implement clear regulations on quality assurance, copyright, personal privacy, sharing and use of educational resources.
• UiB shall promote a culture for sharing educational resources to improve the quality in education and to strengthen the national and international collaboration across institutions and disciplines.
• UiB shall offer researchers the necessary training and guidance in copyright and technical issues concerning archiving, publishing, and sharing of educational resources.
• UiB shall facilitate that researchers can share their educational resources and make educational resources openly available in compliance with academic and legal regulations.
• UiB researchers shall ensure that development, use and sharing of open educational resources are in accordance with the values and reputation of the institution.   

The goal of citizen science is to strengthen citizens knowledge of research, promote the university and to develop scientific knowledge.

Citizen science engages and involves private citizens, groups or institutions in research, in collaboration with researchers or research institutions. Activities can range from collecting and systemising data to initiating research processes in collaboration with researchers. The goal is to create new knowledge, but also to contribute to innovation and to develop services, and to spread knowledge of research and science.

The University of Bergen shall:

• Test new forms of collaboration with citizens in research processes.
• Stimulate interest and make citizen science known in the university.
• Contribute to further develop existing citizen science collaborations and seek to expand the activities to new disciplines.
• Utilize incentive programs from the Research Council of Norway and others.
• Ensure that when UiB is involved in citizen science, the projects adhere to the required academic standards of evidence, scientific methods, and research ethics.
• Examine the possibility to develop infrastructures that facilitate the collection and documentation of data in citizen science projects.