University Open Science Policy - Università di Trento (2025)

University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 1 of 14 UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 2 of 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY ............................................................................................................ 1 Table of contents ........................................................................................................................................... 2 MAIN REGULATORY REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 3 DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 5 GENERAL PRINCIPLES ........................................................................................................................... 7 OPEN SCIENCE AT UNITRENTO ............................................................................................................ 9 SCOPE OF APPLICATION ......................................................................................................................10 TITLE I – OPEN SCIENCE COMMITTEE ................................................................................................10 Art. 1 – Composition and Duration of the Committee ...........................................................................10 Art. 2 – Tasks of the Committee ...........................................................................................................10 TITLE II – WORKING GROUPS ...............................................................................................................11 Art. 3 – Working Groups .......................................................................................................................11 TITLE III – THEMATIC AREAS ................................................................................................................11 Art. 4 – Publications of Affiliated Scholars ............................................................................................11 Art. 5 – University Press .......................................................................................................................12 Art. 6 – Research Data and Other Research Outputs ..........................................................................12 Art. 7 – Doctoral Theses.......................................................................................................................12 Art. 8 – Regulatory Principles ...............................................................................................................13 Art. 9 – Long-Term Preservation ..........................................................................................................13 Art. 10 – Policy Monitoring ...................................................................................................................13 TITLE IV – SPECIFIC REGULATIONS ....................................................................................................13 Art. 11 – Regulations for Thematic Areas.............................................................................................13 Art. 12 – Departmental Policies ............................................................................................................14 TITLE V – UNIVERSITY RESPONSIBILITIES .........................................................................................14 Art. 13 – Resources and Support Structures ........................................................................................14 UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 3 of 14 MAIN REGULATORY REFERENCES The guiding principles of this policy are drawn from the following documents. a) Italian and International [1] National Plan for Open Science (PNSA) 2021-2027, annexed to Ministerial Decree No. 268 of 28 February 2022 (https://www.mur.gov.it/it/atti-e-normativa/decreto-ministeriale-n-268-del-28-02-2022) [2] Legislative Decree 200/2021 amending Legislative Decree 36/2006, implementing Directive 2019/1024/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019, on the openness of data and the reuse of public sector information (recast) [3] Directive 2019/1024/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019, on the openness of data and the reuse of public sector information (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/IT/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019L1024&from=ES) [4] Recommendation of the [European] Commission on access to and preservation of scientific information of 25 April 2018, in the Official Journal of the European Union of 31 May 2018 (https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documentsregister/api/files/C(2018)2375_0/de00000000170990?rendition=false) [5] Law No. 112 of 7 October 2013, in GU n. 236 of 8 October 2013 (https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2013/10/08/13G00158/sg), which converts with amendments Decree Law No. 91 of 8 August 2013, “Urgent provisions for the protection, enhancement and relaunch of cultural heritage and activities and tourism,” which governs open access to scientific articles (https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2013/10/08/13A08109/sg), specifically Art. 4 paragraph 2 [6] European Commission Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information, 17 July 2012, 2012/417/EU, in OJEU L 194/39 of 21 July 2012 (https://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:194:0039:0043:IT:PDF) [7] Constitution of the Italian Republic, in force since 1/1/1948, in GU n. 298 of 27 December 1947 (https://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:costituzione:1947-12-27!vig=) b) University of Trento [8] Policy on open access to scientific literature, approved by the Academic Senate on 29 January 2014, and amended on 4 March 2020 (https://zenodo.org/records/8307546) [9] Internal Rules for Editorial Activity approved by the Faculty Council [of Law] on 24 September 2014, amended by the Faculty Council on 6 July 2017 and 25 July 2018 (https://r.unitn.it/filesresearch/images/download/norme-interne-attivita-editoriale-revisione-cdf-25072018.pdf) UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 4 of 14 [10] University Regulation on Research Doctorate, issued by R.D. n. 742 of 28 October 2016 (https://www.unitn.it/alfresco/download/workspace/SpacesStore/f03b8a82-15c7-49e7-b05bf9af896e8121/Regolamento%20Dottorati_28.10.2016.pdf), which already adopted the CRUI 2007 Guidelines in its first version in 2007 [11] Code of Ethics, R.D. n. 285 of 29 May 2014 (https://www.unitn.it/alfresco/download/workspace/SpacesStore/6ea112d5-2ceb-48e4-87b1a849f84f034e/Codice%20etico%20di%20Ateneo.pdf) [12] Departmental Regulation on Publications approved by the Council [of the Department of Humanities] dd. 24.04.2013 and issued by Decree no. 86 dd. 06.05.2013. [13] Statute, R.D. n. 167 of 23 April 2012, published in GU 11 n. 109 of May 2012 (https://www.unitn.it/alfresco/download/workspace/SpacesStore/75462314-8e3d-4e66-b805a436839f6f13/46412statuto2012web_0.pdf) c) Other Guiding Documents [14] Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information, 16 April 2024 (https://barcelonadeclaration.org/downloads/BarcelonaDeclaration.pdf) [15] IFLA Statement on Open Access to Scholarly Literature and Research Documentation, 1 September 2022 (https://www.ifla.org/news/10-years-of-the-ifla-open-access-statement-a-call-to-action/) [16] Recommendation on Open Science of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), adopted on 23 November 2021 at the Paris Conference (https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379949.locale=en) [17] Plan S, 4 September 2018, by cOAlition S (https://www.coalition-s.org/addendum-to-the-coalition-sguidance-on-the-implementation-of-plan-s/principles-and-implementation/) [18] Guidelines for depositing doctoral theses in open archives approved on 23 November 2007, by the CRUI Libraries Committee (https://www.crui.it/images/bibliotche/linee_guida_deposito_tesi_dottorato.pdf) [19] Messina Declaration, 4 November 2004 (http://www.sssup.it/UploadDocs/7109_Dichiarazione_di_Messina.pdf), confirmed with the 2014-2018 Road Map, 3-4 November 2014 (https://decennale.unime.it/?page_id=1766) [20] Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, 22 October 2003 (https://openaccess.mpg.de/Berlin-Declaration) [21] Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, 20 June 2003 (https://archive.org/details/jlis_it8628/mode/2up) UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 5 of 14 DEFINITIONS Research Output - The set of materials elaborated and disseminated following a scientific research process, which includes both scholarly literature (publications, grey literature, doctoral theses) and research results. Publication - Any text validated and disseminated in the scientific community as an editorial product. This includes, for example, scientific journal articles, conference proceedings, monographs, essay collections, and miscellanies. Grey Literature - Any text intended for discussion or training in the scientific field, but not published and not necessarily validated. This includes, for example, preprint articles, research reports, and teaching materials. Research Result - Any tangible product (e.g., new materials, antibodies, reagents, samples, instruments, collections of objects, and physical archives of sources and documents) or intangible product (e.g., data, algorithms, software, workflows, protocols, models, methodologies, abstracts, text interpretations, definitions, statements, demonstrations) created within the scope of a scientific research activity. Research Data - Any information, in any structured or unstructured format (numerical data, textual data, images, videos, sounds, etc.), used or produced in the scope of a scientific research activity, also in order to validate the research results themselves. Metadata - Descriptive data of a research output, i.e., structured information relating, for example, to the content, author, provenance, conditions of use, and any other information that allows the described object to be identified, interpreted, and used. Open Science - An approach to the scientific process based on the principles and values of democratic societies, such as: collaboration, open and timely sharing of results, methods of knowledge dissemination based on networked digital technologies (that use recognized standards and protocols), and transparent methods for validating and evaluating research outputs to promote their integrity and reproducibility. Open Access - A domain of open science concerning the methods of disseminating research outputs, allowing immediate, free, and unrestricted online access, free from legal and technological restrictions. This is achieved by depositing outputs in an online repository that uses specific bibliographic standards and protocols for dissemination and reuse, and which is supported and maintained by academic institutions, scholarly societies, government agencies, or other recognized organizations pursuing the goals of open access, UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 6 of 14 unlimited distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving. Open access can be guaranteed in the following ways: ● Diamond Open Access: the online publication of research outputs, without the payment of publication fees (APCs) for the author. This occurs on platforms that use specific bibliographic standards and protocols for dissemination and reuse, are free for the readers, and are managed by academic institutions, research institutions, scholarly societies, government agencies, noncommercial/non-profit organizations, or other recognized organizations pursuing the goals of open access, unlimited distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving. ● Gold Open Access: the online publication of research outputs immediately disseminated – possibly through the use of specific bibliographic standards and protocols – by the publisher. This follows the payment of a publication fee (APC) by the authors or their institution. ● Green Open Access: the free, online self-archiving of one’s own research output (full text and descriptive metadata) in a specific institutional, disciplinary, or general repository, with a potential embargo period and only in the versions permitted by the policies of the publisher with which the author has stipulated the Copyright Transfer Agreement. The chosen repository must use specific bibliographic standards and protocols for dissemination and reuse, and be supported and maintained by academic institutions, scholarly societies, government agencies, or other recognized organizations pursuing the goals of open access, unlimited distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving. Closed Access - The status of a documented research output conserved in a repository where only the bibliographic metadata are accessible, but not the attachment containing the full text of the publications or the complete content of the output. This output remains accessible exclusively to the affiliated authors and authorized personnel of the institution (including members of the evaluation committees). Regarding national evaluation processes, the attachment is sent with the necessary security procedures from server to server and made available to the evaluation bodies only for the period strictly necessary for the evaluation, in compliance with the provided technological security measures and copyright law. UniTrento Affiliated Scholar - Anyone who carries out research activity and is an author of research outputs for or on behalf of the University of Trento (hereinafter UniTrento). This category may include, but is not limited to, anyone among teaching staff, researchers, doctoral students, collaborators, technical-administrative staff, and students involved in research activities. UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 7 of 14 Institutional Repository - A service of a research institution aimed at its affiliated scholars, which allows the digital archiving and open access dissemination of one or more types of research outputs and their related metadata. It must be interoperable with other national (including institutional and ministerial) as well as international databases, and aimed at the reliable collection of outputs that is constantly updated and available for monitoring, evaluation, and fund distribution actions. GENERAL PRINCIPLES UniTrento, in compliance with Article 2.8 of its Statute [13], which states that the University “supports the circulation of knowledge, also through full and open access to scientific literature,” as well as Articles 11.1 and 11.4 of its Code of Ethics [11],1 promotes the implementation of the principle of open access as defined by the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities of October 2003 [20], signed by UniTrento through the signing of the Messina Declaration of 2004 [19].2 In coherence with the commitment made, UniTrento promotes the adoption of open access and favours its application in all phases of research, teaching, and in the “third mission”, respecting the autonomy of every affiliated scholar and the differences among disciplinary areas. The open access principle responds to the high constitutional values [7] of promoting the development of culture and scientific and technical research, as well as the protection of academic and scientific freedom (Arts. 9 and 33). In particular, it aims to enhance the international dissemination of scientific research – also according to the definitions3 and principles of the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing of 2003 [21] 1 See in particular Article 11.1, “Freedom and Responsibility in Research. Research activity is free, responsible, and aims at excellence. With reference to conduct concerning the role, responsibilities, and rights of researchers and of those collaborating in research activities in any capacity, professors and researchers are required to share and implement the principles expressed in the European Charter for Researchers issued by the Commission of the European Community, with particular regard to freedom of research, responsibility and professional development, dissemination and valorisation of research results, mobility, and access to lifelong learning” and Article 11.4, “Research Results, Teaching, and Open Access. Professors and researchers commit to ensuring the widest possible dissemination of research results carried out within the University by adopting behaviours consistent with Open Access, while respecting intellectual property constraints and confidentiality agreements in the industrial sector”. 2 See in particular Article 4, paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. 3 See for example: “Definition of Open Access Publication: an Open Access Publication (…) is one that meets the following two conditions: (1) The author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship (…), as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use. (2) A complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 8 of 14 and the IFLA Statement on Open Access to Scholarly Literature and Research Documentation of 2022 [15] –, to reduce the rate of duplication of scientific studies, to strengthen interdisciplinary research, knowledge transfer to businesses, and transparency towards citizens, as well as to make the use of research outputs for educational purposes more effective, fair, and inclusive, and to guarantee the preservation of scientific outputs over time. UniTrento implements4 the “Urgent measures for the protection of cultural heritage, cultural development and the relaunch of tourism” included in Law No. 112 of 7 October 2013 [5], which regulates open access to publications. UniTrento encourages its affiliated scholars to choose full and immediate open access publication whenever possible, referring to the principles of Plan S [17]. It also applies the EU Commission Recommendation of 17 July 2012, on access to and preservation of scientific information [6]: among other things, the EU Commission asks academic institutions, through Member States, to define and implement policies for open access and the dissemination of publications, as well as policies for their long-term preservation. UniTrento recognizes these policies as an ethical, social, and intellectual value, and places their implementation among its institutional duties. In a broader perspective, UniTrento recognizes and pursues all the principles of open science – such as transparency, sharing, and reuse of all research outputs – as promoted and outlined by the “Recommendation of the [European] Commission on access to and preservation of scientific information” of 25 April 2018 [4], by the UNESCO Recommendation of 23 November 2021 [16], by the Barcelona Declaration [14], and by similar documents at the national and international level. In favour of open science, UniTrento commits and invests in strengthening the necessary and adequate infrastructures, skills, and incentives. With particular regard to research data, UniTrento also applies “Directive 2019/1024/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019, on the openness of data and the reuse of public sector information” [3], and Legislative Decree No. 200 of 8 November 2021 [2], in its implementation. of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving (for the biomedical sciences, PubMed Central is such a repository)”. 4 Law No. 112 of 7 October 2013, published in the Official Gazette (G.U.) No. 236 of 8 October 2013, converts, with amendments, Law Decree No. 91 of 8 August 2013, “Urgent provisions for the protection, enhancement, and relaunch of cultural heritage and activities and tourism”; see in particular Article 4, paragraph 2. UNIVERSITY OPEN SCIENCE POLICY University of Trento Approved by the Academic Senate on 7 December 2022, and updated on 9 July 2025 Page 9 of 14 Within the scope of the National Research Program PNR 2021-2027, UniTrento defines its priorities based on the indications of the “National Plan for Open Science” of MUR (February 2022) [1]. OPEN SCIENCE AT UNITRENTO UniTrento supports and promotes its activities concerning open science primarily through: (a) the self-archiving of affiliated scholars’ publications in its institutional repository IRIS (green open access; Art. 4); (b) no-fee publishing of texts through its University Press (diamond open access; Art. 5); (c) adherence to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable) and to international recommendations on the processing of research results (Art. 6). UniTrento adopts and promotes the necessary strategies and programmatic actions to ensure that the dissemination of its affiliated scholars’ research outputs occurs in compliance with copyright law. It favours the application of national and European standards, regulations, and guidelines that mandate the adoption of open science principles for research outputs funded by public funds. In particular, the European Union has made the open-access dissemination of research outputs funded by European funds progressively more stringent, starting from the 7th Framework Programme in 2013. To maximize visibility and ensure high quality standards, UniTrento considers strategic both the use of the main international directories for open access resources (such as ROARMAP and DOAJ) and the indexing of research outputs in major national and international databases (such as SCOPUS and Web of Science). Through the Committee (Title I) and with the assistance of the Working Groups (Title II), UniTrento promotes forms of support or incentives for every affiliated scholar who practices open science. Since 2016, UniTrento has been an institutional member of AISA (Italian Association for the Promotion of Open Science), a non-profit association established in Trento on 3 March 2015. Furthermore, since April 2021, UniTrento has adhered to the Italian Computing and Data Infrastructure (ICDI - Italian Computing and Data Infrastructure), thus contributing to the national strategic vision on the subject and to the definition of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).