You can find the most important information about open access publishing here.

Does Charles University have a policy on open access?

Charles University does not have a mandatory open access policy. However, at its December 15, 2017 meeting, the University’s Academic Senate approved a joint statement about open access policy at Charles University (in Czech only). [RK1] The goal of the statement was to create conditions at Charles University for the future implementation of an institutional policy.

What is the difference between Green Open Access and Gold Open Access?

Green Open Access is the storage of the full text of articles or monographs by their authors in open repositories (self-archiving). Gold Open Access means open publishing by journals. In this case open access is provided by the publisher, not the author.

Both these types of open access are fully complementary (not mutually exclusive) and from the standpoint of increasing the visibility of an author’s work it is advisable to combine them.

What funds are available at Charles University to pay fees for publication (APC, BPC)?

At this time Charles University does not have a central fund for paying the expense of open access fees. Those fees are, however, fully recognizable as expenses in project budgets. It is therefore essential to remember to include them as expenses when preparing budgets for new projects.

Corresponding authors from Charles University can take advantage of discounts and vouchers for open access publication fees charged by selected publishers, which are made available on the basis of transformative Read & Publish agreements concluded in connection with the national consortium CzechELib.

I have already published an article in a journal and now I would like to make it accessible in an open repository. What should I do?

Articles which have already been published can be made accessible in green open access by depositing the article in an open repository (self-archiving). The OpenDOAR and OpenAIRE databases are examples of useful tools for finding an appropriate repository.

It is always necessary to verify in advance whether or not the publisher of your article permits self-archiving. The conditions for self-archiving are usually stated in a licensing agreement negotiated between the publisher and the author collective in advance of publication. If you and your corresponding author(s) are not aware of the terms of your publisher’s licensing agreement, you can learn about them on the Open Policy Finder website, which has an informational character only. If the publisher’s standard agreement does not permit self-archiving, ask the publisher to grant an exception in an addendum to the agreement before signing it.

Which funding agencies require open access to published research?

The main funding agency that requires open access is the European Commission. However, it can be expected that the number of such agencies will increase in the future. The cOAlition S initiative in particular is promoting this, supported by national funding agencies.

What is the difference between open repositories and academic social networks like ResearchGate and Academia.edu?

Academia.edu and ResearchGate are commercial academic social networks, whose main goal is linking researchers with each other. They often gather personal information and require registration for access to their content. Therefore, they do not fit the definition of open access, which must be immediate, cost-free, permanent, and unrestricted.  

Open repositories are non-commercial platforms that usually have many ways to store articles (with addition of metadata, etc.). They are interoperable with other tools and are searchable using ordinary search engines and by aggregators of scientific content. Some repositories guarantee long-term archiving.

Is there a list of untrustworthy journals and publishers (predatory publishers)?

Predatory journals and publishers often try to disguise their lack of trustworthiness by hiding behind open access policies. We therefore draw attention to them in this context.

The most famous list of untrustworthy publishers and journals was Beall's List, which was discontinued in 2017. The reasons for including journals on this so-called blacklist were not always clear-cut and sometimes triggered a legal response from the accused publisher. For that reason, it is always necessary to assess the credibility of the particular journal or publisher with whom you want to publish for yourself.

You will find the typical signs of predatory publishers and tips on how to avoid them on the website of the Open Access Support Centre. The Centre has also prepared a guide for Charles University authors containing basic information about predatory journals and publishers.

I am interested in open access publishing, but I need advice about how to proceed. Where can I find advice at Charles University?

The Open Access Support Centre at Charles University was founded for just that purpose. There is also a supportive network of open access coordinators in the University’s faculties. The coordinator for the Faculty of Social Sciences is Jonáš Klos: jonas.klos@fsv.cuni.cz.

You can find basic information about the management of research data, the FAIR principles, and data management plans here.

What is a data management plan (DMP)?

A data management plan (DMP) is a document that specifies what data will be created in the course of research and how. It contains information about the accessibility and use of data. Some funding agencies require the completion and submission of a DMP as a condition in their grant agreements.

You can find examples of DMPs to inspire you on the web pages of the Digital Curation Centre and on the DMPonline website in a repository of public DMPs.

A data management plan can be created as a document in a text editor. However, we recommend using an online tool that can facilitate the creation of a DMP with appropriate questions. Such tools also guide researchers with specific explanation of the questions. Among them are DMPonline and the Data Stewardship Wizard. 

If you need assistance in creating a DMP, please contact the data steward for the Faculty of Social Sciences, Jonáš Klos, at the e-mail address jonas.klos@fsv.cuni.cz or the Open Science Support Center at researchdata@cuni.cz.

What template should I use to create a DMP?

Various institutions and funding agencies have their own specific requirements for data management plans; in such cases, you use a template which they provide. If the institution or funding agency does not have specific requirements, we recommend that you use a template like that of the Digital Curation Centre. Charles University has no specific requirements or template for a DMP. 

What does it mean that data is FAIR?

FAIR data is data that is easily found (Findable), Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. You can read more about the FAIR principles on the website of the Open Science Support Centre. You can verify how FAIR your data is with the help of this checklist.

What is metadata?

Metadata is a type of data. It contains, for example, information about who the author of the data is and how the data was generated. It is possible to find data in a repository using metadata. You will find information on professional standards for metadata on the website of the Digital Curation Centre.

What funding agencies have requirements for management of research data?

The European Commission is foremost among the funding agencies that have requirements for management of research data. It has framework programs for support of research and innovation (Horizon 2020, now Horizon Europe). Other funders are following suit, including some in the Czech Republic (e.g., the KAPPA program of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and Charles University’s Primus competition).

More detailed information about conditions relating to open science imposed by specific funding agencies can be found on the website of Charles University’s Open Science Support Centre in the section on research funders’ policies.  

Where can I find existing open data that I can use in my own research project?

Links to relevant data sets are often given in published articles. You can also find data sets in data repositories, including general ones like Zenodo, Figshare, Dryad, and OSF, and in those with an orientation to a particular field (you can search for repositories in a field by using the re3data.org register of data repositories. Another reliable source of data sets is data journals, which publish peer-reviewed articles describing data sets that are accessible online. They ensure that the published data is of high quality and well-identified. Besides these resources you can use the data set search engines Mendeley Data and Google Dataset Search. It is also possible to use open data published by the Czech government, which you can find in the Národní katalog otevřených dat (National Catalog of Open Data, in Czech) 

I have found data that relates to the topic I am researching. How do I know that this data is useful and that I have permission to use it?

1. Verify that the data is from a trustworthy source (for example, a certified data repository, a well-known author, or a peer-reviewed data journal).
2. Verify that the data is adequately described and the context in which it was generated is made known (for example, the population from which the data was obtained and the conditions under which it was created).
3. Verify whether the data you find can be reused and under what conditions (e.g., a license or consent of the author for use of the data).
4. How long will the data you find be maintained? That is, might it be lost or erased, especially in cases where it is located on the personal website of an author?  
5. If you use data produced by someone else in your research, don’t forget to properly cite it.

How should I cite the data I use?

As with citing publications, it is important to include enough information about the data so that it be easily found and identified. Some repositories provide a recommended format for citing a deposited dataset that you can use. If the data does not have a recommended citation format, then you should at least include the author of the data, the year the data was published, the title of the dataset, the name of the publisher or repository, and a permanent identifier (e.g., a DOI) if one is assigned to the data.

Where should I store data while I my search is ongoing?

We recommend storing data during the research process in a secure repository provided by Charles University, either in your faculty or research center, or in the repository maintained by the CESNET association in the Czech Republic. You can also use cloud data storage provided as a service by Microsoft Office 365 (in Czech) for Charles University. This includes the personal cloud storage space OneDrive, the document library service SharePoint, and Office 365 groups. Storage of data in the context of these cloud services is provided by an agreement between Charles University and the Microsoft corporation. You can find more information about safe storage of data here. This material was prepared by the University’s Computer Science Center in cooperation with the University’s data protection officer.

I am just beginning my research project and I know that at the end of the project I will want to publish my data in open access. What should I do?

1. If you use data created by someone else, be sure that its author has given permission for sharing it (for example, by licensing it).
2. If you are working in a team, agree that data may be shared among the team members.
3. If you work with human subjects in the course of your research, you must obtain their consent to publication of the data you obtain from them. You can protect yourself by obtaining their informed consent, or by anonymizing the data before it is published.
4. You can find recommendations for how to write an informed consent and templates on the Charles University GDPR sharepoint.[RK1] 
5. Insofar as possible, remove personal information from your data.
6. Anonymize data before publishing it. For example, instead of using the names of the participants in your research use numerical identifiers and instead of giving their specific age, state an age range. You can also use various tools for anonymizing your data, for example, Amnesia.
7. If it is impossible to anonymize or remove personal information, you must obtain the informed consent of the participant in your research for sharing such information.
8. For more information about working with personal information you can contact the University’s data protection officer at gdpr@cuni.cz.

If I want to share my research data, where can I store it so that other researchers will have access to it?

The best way to preserve and share research data is by depositing it into a data repository established for your field of study. Such repositories are usually better suited to the needs of the particular community they serve. Moreover, they ensure that your data finds its way to researchers in your field. You can identify an appropriate repository for your field on re3data.org, among others. If you are unable to find a suitable specialized repository, you can store your data in a general repository like Zenodo, Figshare, or Dryad. You can find more information about sharing of data in a specialized section of the website of the Open Science Support Centre.

I am the publisher or editor of an academic journal and I would like our authors to share the data that supports the articles they publish with us. How do I do that?

It has gradually become normal practice for publishers of academic journals and magazines to have a data policy that establishes how authors should store the supporting data for their published articles. Take, for example, the journal Nature. In this article (in Czech) [RK2] you will find some tips that should be considered in setting data policy for an academic journal. If you have questions about this matter you can contact the Open Science Support Centre.