Open access, open access publishing and open research data in the Greek Universities

Abstract

Objective: Examines the developments made by the Greek institutions in open access, in open access publishing and in open research data.

Methods: Describes and provides a brief overview of the initiatives and actions that took place in Greek universities and organizations since the Berlin Declaration on Open Access in October 2003. We focus on the activities and projects that were and are carried out by Greek academic libraries and by the national consortium of the Hellenic Academic Libraries-Link (HEAL-Link).

Findings: During these years the Greek academic libraries were and remain the pioneers of the open access movement while there is no national open access mandate and policy. It seems that initially the emphasis was given to green road through the implementation of institutional repositories but they soon became stagnant. In most of the institutions the mandate refers only to master and doctoral theses while there is a recommendation for researchers’ publications. The gold road was barely supported by the Greek institutions and researchers.

Conclusions: Greek academic libraries and HEAL-Link need to work with researchers to ensure that the full benefits of open access are realised.