Overview of the “Basic Policy for Achieving Immediate Open Access to Academic Papers”

Beginning in FY2025, recipients of targeted competitive research fundings will be required to make their academic publications and associated research data openly accessible through institutional repositories or other approved platforms immediately upon publication in an academic journal*.

Target Competitive Research Grants

  • JSPS: KAKENHI (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research)
  • JST: Strategic Basic Research Programs (with some exclusions)
  • AMED: Strategic Basic Research Programs
  • JST: FOREST (Fusion Oriented Research for disruptive Science and Technology)

Materials Required for Open Access

Academic Publications

Peer-reviewed research papers published in electronic journals, including author accepted manuscripts

Note: Preprints are excluded

Institutional bulletin papers are included if peer-reviewed

Eligible papers include peer-reviewed Japanese-language publications in electronic journals
Supporting Research Data

Data that journals require authors to make available as part of their publication policies and submission guidelines to ensure research transparency and reproducibility

*Regarding the Deposit of Academic Papers and Supporting Data in “Institutional Repositories and Other Information Infrastructure Platforms”

Publications and supporting data must be deposited through one of the following approved methods. The deposited version must be either the publisher’s version or the author’s accepted manuscript.

Deposit in Institutional Repositories

When recipients of targeted competitive research funding are affiliated with an institution that has an institutional repository, they must, in principle, deposit their academic papers and supporting data in that institutional repository.

Deposit in Information Infrastructure Platforms Other than Institutional Repositories

In the following cases, the recipient will be considered to have fulfilled the deposit requirement for academic papers and supporting data in “Institutional Repositories and Other Information Infrastructure Platforms”:

  • When deposited in discipline-specific repositories discoverable through the National Institute of Informatics Research Data Cloud (NII RDC)
  • When papers and data are deposited in platforms not searchable through NII RDC:
    Authors must include identifiers for the academic papers and supporting data in their reporting to the funding agency. These materials must be made searchable on NII RDC through the funding agency’s research project database and other systems.
  • When academic papers and supporting data are deposited in Jxiv or the repository being developed by the JST (tentatively named “GRANTS Data”)
  • When academic papers and supporting data are made immediately open access on publishers’ electronic journals, provided that identifiers for these academic papers and supporting data are included in performance reports to the funding agency, and these materials are made searchable on NII RDC through the funding agency’s research project database and other systems
  • When academic papers and supporting data are made searchable on NII RDC through other means

Definition of “Immediate”

  • The “immediate” open access required by this basic policy means there must be no embargo period (period prohibiting public access) after academic papers and supporting data are published in academic journals.
  • “Publication in academic journals” refers to when academic papers are published in electronic form. When an academic paper is published electronically ahead of its assignment to a specific volume, issue, and page numbers, this early electronic publication is considered the “publication in academic journals.”
  • While there are no specific regulations regarding the time required for procedures to deposit materials in “Institutional Repositories and Other Information Infrastructure Platforms” after journal publication, since this varies depending on institutional systems and other factors, it is recommended that materials be made publicly available through “Institutional Repositories and Other Information Infrastructure Platforms” within approximately three months after journal publication.
From “Specific Measures for Implementation of the ‘Basic Policy for Achieving Immediate Open Access to Academic Papers’ (Integrated Innovation Strategy Promotion Council Decision of February 16, 2024)”(February 21, 2024, Revised on October 8, 2024, Agreement among Related Government Ministries and Agencies)

Reference Links for the “Basic Policy for Achieving Immediate Open Access to Academic Papers”

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