News and Events

Open Research Europe (ORE), the European Commission’s open access publishing platform, is entering a new phase of growth, expanding beyond EU-funded researchers to a broader scientific community across Europe. Originally launched in 2021 to support beneficiaries of programs such as Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, and Euratom, ORE has become a key tool for rapid, transparent, and cost-free scientific publishing.

The platform allows researchers to publish their work within days as preprints, followed by an open peer review process that fosters transparency and dialogue. By requiring full access to underlying data and materials, ORE promotes reproducibility, reuse, and greater research integrity.

A defining feature of ORE is its commitment to accessibility: there are no publication fees for authors, and all content is freely available under open licenses (CC-BY for publications and CC-0 for data). The platform is also fully compliant with European open science policies, ensuring alignment with Horizon Europe requirements.

Now hosted and operated by CERN, ORE benefits from advanced digital infrastructures developed for open science, such as Zenodo. Its governance model—supported by a network of 16 national funders and research institutions—marks a shift toward a more collaborative and sustainable European research ecosystem.

With over 1,200 articles already published and a growing international user base, Open Research Europe is positioning itself as a cornerstone of open science in Europe, enabling faster knowledge sharing, reducing barriers to publication, and strengthening the impact of publicly funded research.

Open Research Europe stands out as one of the most powerful actions implemented by the European Commission to advance open science in practice. It does not simply promote principles—it operationalizes them. 

By removing financial barriers, accelerating dissemination, and embedding transparency and collaboration into the publishing process, ORE clearly demonstrates the tangible benefits of open science: faster innovation, greater inclusivity, and stronger societal impact.

Six major European organisations — ALLEA, EIFL, IFLA, LIBER, OPERAS, and SPARC Europe — have issued a joint statement urging stronger and more coordinated action to advance Open Science across Europe. Representing thousands of universities, research institutions, libraries, scholarly infrastructures, and academies, the organisations contributed their reflections within the ongoing consultation on the European Research Area (ERA) Act.

The statement acknowledges the important progress made in recent years through initiatives such as the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021), the European Council Conclusions on Open Science, and the growing number of national policies supporting openness and accessibility in research. However, the organisations stress that significant barriers still persist.

According to the statement, financial, linguistic, and geographic inequalities continue to limit equitable participation in Open Science. Access to infrastructures, publishing opportunities, and research visibility remains uneven across countries and institutions, preventing many researchers and communities from fully benefiting from open scientific practices.

The organisations argue that the ERA Act represents a key opportunity to accelerate the transition toward a more inclusive and transparent research ecosystem. Yet, they also emphasize that legislation alone will not be enough. Achieving Open Science requires coordinated efforts involving policies, incentives, sustainable infrastructures, and community-driven initiatives capable of supporting long-term collaboration and accessibility.

The joint statement ultimately highlights a broader vision of Open Science — not only as a technical or regulatory framework, but as a collective cultural transformation aimed at making scientific knowledge more equitable, participatory, and accessible across Europe.