Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)

Italiano

Open Access policy to the contributions of INGV scientific research

Introduction

INGV, in keeping with its institutional objectives, promotes and performs research activities on the natural processes of the Earth system, which are subdivided into three macro-areas of reference: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Environment.

This document, pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 218/2016, adopts the European Commission Recommendation of 11 March 2005 on the European Charter for Researchers and on a Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (2005/251/EC), with particular regard to the provisions relating to research freedom, dissemination and exploitation of research, and protection of intellectual property.

The Body’s signing of the Position Statement on Open Access to the results of scientific research in Italy in March 2013 reflects INGV’s commitment to adhere to the Open Access Principles contained in the “Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities”, in order to support and promote the principle of Open Access.

Following the approval of the Principles of the INGV Data Policy [1], the need emerged to analyze and regulate the management of the scientific literature separately from the scientific data by virtue of the respective unique and specific features.

The development of this Policy is aimed at establishing acts of political and operational guidance with regard to publications, and in essence serves purposes of:

  • Visibility for INGV scientific research;
  • Promotion and implementation of Open Access;
  • Respect for the commitment signed in May 2013 in the Position Statement on Open Access to the results of scientific research in Italy;
  • Fulfilment of national and EC regulations, defining the timing and procedures for compliance with legal obligations.

Open Access responds to the high constitutional values of promoting and developing scientific and technical research and culture, as well as protecting research freedom. In particular, it aims to strengthen the dissemination of scientific research on an international scale; at making research products accessible to parties without access to for-pay distribution systems; at reinforcing interdisciplinary research, knowledge transfer to companies, and transparency to citizens; at making the use of scientific contributions for educational purposes more efficient; and at guaranteeing the preservation of scientific production over time.

INGV is committed to implementing an appropriate financial planning aimed at pursuing the goals described above, and in order to honour the signed commitments.

[1]Presidential Decree no. 200 of 26 April 2016

Art. 1 - Definitions

Body or INGV.

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.

Author

The creator of the work, as personnel of INGV, employed under an open-ended or fixed-term contract, associated personnel, or holders of research allowances or grants, including those for doctorates, or personnel employed under any contractual form, whether author or co-author, also along with one or more parties outside INGV, of an original work that constitutes the Contribution of scientific research.

Commission for open access to the Contributions of scientific research or Commission

The commission instituted by this policy within the Coordination Office, established by Board of Directors decision no. 232/2016.

Self-archiving

For the purposes hereof, as the filing by an INGV author of a Contribution of scientific research in the institutional Archive;

Institutional Archive of products of scientific research or Archive

The Earth-prints institutional archive that is to receive:

  • The bibliographical metadata describing the Contribution;
  • The self-archiving of the contribution in a version accepted or published by the publisher in the best possible format.

Access to the Archive and its contents shall be defined as a function of the possible uses in compliance with the rules of copyright, for example:

  • Access to the bibliographical metadata alone;
  • Access reserved for the bodies for assessment procedures on a local and national level;
  • Free access.

Free access

The publication of a Contribution of scientific research accompanied by the free, irrevocable and universal concession to all users of the access right, in compliance with the provisions of law and of the contracts signed between the author and publisher.

Contribution of scientific research or Contribution

Any text including the data and accessory information, such as images, video, tables, drawings, and formulas, accepted or published in journals or book series with scientific content, and includes, by way of example, articles in science journals, conference proceedings, posters, presentations, monographs and book chapters, PhD theses, exhibition catalogues, editions of excavations, critical editions or edited volumes containing the results of scientific projects, patented texts, geological and geographical maps.

Metadata

The basic metadata (descriptive and bibliographical) of a Contribution and the metadata linked to the author’s own context (e.g. administrative/operation information relating to belonging to a structure, SSD, etc.).

Publishing digital version

The digital version of the Contribution of scientific literature edited and published by the publisher of science publications.

Peer-reviewed digital version

The definitive digital version accepted by the publisher of science publications that integrates the peer-review process and bears no logos or trademarks of said publisher (editorial layout).

Open-access publication

Contribution of the scientific literature already Open Access at origin, in “Gold Road,” in a journal or other publishing venue of a scientific nature, such as a series of books.

Art. 2 - Open Access Policy

This policy is drawn up in application of the EU Commission Recommendation of 17 July 2012 on access to and preservation of scientific information (2012/417/EU) [1]. The document also takes account of the provisions of art. 4, paragraphs 2 and 4 of Legislative Decree no. 91/2013, converted with modifications into Law no. 112/2013 [2].

INGV ensures Open Access to publications produced as part of its own research projects.

The provisions on Open Access call for two levels: the “Green Road,” which is to say the self-archiving of the metadata of a scientific contribution, accompanied by the complete text and by the free, irrevocable, and universal concession to all users of the right to access;

or the “Gold Road,” which is to say the publication of scientific contributions in open-access publishing venues.

INGV is committed to implementing the “Green Road” and the “Gold Road,” for the purpose of disseminating the scientific contributions of its own researchers and making them accessible outside of the commercial publishing circuits, compatibly with compliance with the regulations on copyright, while also allowing its institutional archive to network with the institutional archives of other research institutions and universities in compliance with the Principles of Open Access and the related standards for interoperability. In addition to self-archiving, INGV promotes open-access publications, or the “Gold Road” through the international journal Annals of Geophysics and the INGV publishing series, in which open-access scientific contributions are published.

As reported by its employees’ Code of Behaviour issues in 2015 (art.3), the Body combats plagiarism and reserves the right to use appropriate means to verify the originality of the works entered into the Archive.

[1]In Official Journal of the European Union L 194/39 of 21 July 2012, in a note in which the EU Commission, through the Member States, asks academic institutions to define and implement policies for the spread of scientific publications and Open Access thereto, as well as for policies for the long-term preservation of scientific publications;
[2]Law no. 112/2013, Paragraph 4, according to which the public parties charged with delivering or managing the financing of scientific research adopt, in their autonomy, the measures necessary for promoting open access…

Art. 3 - Institutional Archive Management

Institutional Archive Management is assigned to the Coordination Office, which will make suitable human and technological resources available, empanelling a dedicated Commission that will have to coordinate with the Body’s leadership as regards the issues related to Open Access. This Commission will have to be composed of personnel experienced in the library sciences sector, and the legal and personnel sector of the Coordination Office.

Earth-prints is the institutional archive of the scientific research Contributions of Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia.

The Archive has advanced functions for registering, certifying, disseminating, and preserving the Contributions over time.

The Archive reflects the Principles of the Position Statement and of the INGV Data Policy. The Archive responds to the best practices and to international technical standards for preserving the Contributions over time.

Art. 4 - Filing in the institutional archive, “Green Road” model

At the moment when the Author becomes aware of the publication of his or her Contribution by a journal or other publishing venue, or of the acceptance thereof by the publisher, he or she is required to initiate the Contribution filing process, following the indications reported on the Earth-Prints website, by no later than 18 months after the first publication, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of Law no. 112/2013.

The Author is required to be informed as to which rights it has transferred to the publisher, before proceeding with filing the Contribution.

Upon entering the Contribution into the institutional Archive, the Author:

  • declares having complied with the constraints signed in the agreement made with the publisher;
  • provides indications on immediate accessibility or inaccessibility (e.g.: embargo period) of the contribution, and must completely accept the terms and conditions established in the Earth-prints licence;

The Commission reserves the right to periodically verify and monitor that the filing procedures are correct.

INGV shall do all in its power to make all the Contributions filed in the Archive open access.

If the publishing digital version cannot be made public, the Author files, in the institutional Archive, the “peer-reviewed digital version” of the Contribution.

Art. 5 - Publication of open access contributions; “Gold Road” model

INGV implements the “Gold Road” with its journals and publishing series: Annals of Geophysics, Quaderni di Geofisica, Rapporti tecnici INGV (INGV technical reports) and Miscellanea INGV.

INGV makes its journals and publishing series available and freely accessible on the respective dedicated websites:

Art. 6 - Monitoring of the implementation of the policy

The Commission constantly monitors the proper implementation of this policy, both with reference to filing and publishing the Contributions in the institutional Archive, and with reference to the open-access Publications published in its journals. By 31 December every year, the Commission produces a report on the implementation status of this policy, suggesting corrective and supplementary actions aimed at improving its effectiveness.

Through the Commission, the Body promotes the execution of agreements with publishers aimed at the broadest possibility of quickly distributing the results of the research via the institutional Earth-prints archive.

Aided by the Commission, the Coordination Office organizes periodic training initiatives on Open Access, aimed at the Authors, as well as public events, such as conferences and seminars raising awareness of the principle of Open Access, while at the same time promoting its institutional Earth-prints archive.

Art. 7 - Final provisions

This policy for managing the INGV research contributions enters force following approval by the Board of Directors, and as of the date of the Board of Directors decision.

For all that is not expressly provided for, reference is to be made to the regulations in force, and to the future circulars issued by the Commission.