A new European Commission-commissioned study has analysed the economic impact of possible EU-wide measures to improve access to and reuse of scientific publications and research data.
The study, published on Thursday, was carried out by external experts and looks at options that would make it easier for researchers and organisations to use research outputs for scientific purposes, the Commission said in a release.
It follows an earlier Commission-backed study published in May 2024, which examined barriers to accessing and reusing publicly funded research and set out two main policy options: an EU-wide “secondary publication right” and a harmonised copyright exception for research.
A secondary publication right is a legal provision that can allow authors to share versions of their work more widely, even when publishers hold certain rights.
The new report examines the current economics of scientific publishing in the EU and European Economic Area, including open access publishing and the impact of national laws on secondary publication rights in some member states.
It then models different scenarios for an EU-wide secondary publication right and a harmonised research exception to copyright law.
What the study found
The authors said the evidence across both options points to a broad conclusion that “greater access, reuse and legal certainty” can generate benefits for the European research and innovation system, but could also bring “adjustment pressures” and uneven effects for different stakeholders.
More far-reaching approaches tended to increase gains for researchers, research-performing organisations and the wider innovation ecosystem, while also increasing risks and adaptation burdens for the scientific publishing sector and other rightholders, the study’s authors concluded.
Rather than identifying one preferred solution, the study set out policy trade-offs that would need to be weighed against the EU’s objectives for research excellence, innovation capacity and a sustainable system for scholarly publishing.
The Commission said the work was commissioned under the European Research Area Policy Agenda 2025 — 2027, and was carried out by a consortium led by Visionary Analytics and Technopolis Group, with Opix, Timelex and Ernst & Young as partners.
It also follows Council conclusions adopted in May 2023 calling for “high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy and equitable scholarly publishing”, which encouraged the Commission to examine and propose EU-level measures.
