CIHR Open Access Policy

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January 1, 2013

Table of Contents

  1. Preamble
  2. Policy Objective
  3. Guiding Principles
  4. Application
  5. Policy Statement
  6. Monitoring and Adherence
  7. Policy Review

Annex

Endnotes and references


1. Preamble

As a publicly funded organization, CIHR has a fundamental interest in ensuring that the findings that result from the research it funds, including research publications and publication-related data, are available to the widest possible audience, and at the earliest possible opportunity. Advancements in science and health care are made possible through widespread and barrier-free access to cutting-edge research and knowledge enabling scientists, clinicians, policymakers and the public to use and build on this knowledge.

The advent of the internet has transformed the way that science and scholarly research is communicated. Indicative of this changing landscape has been the steady growth in open access publishing and archiving which facilitate widespread diffusion and free digital access to publications and the latest scientific discoveries. Open access enables researchers to make their research results freely accessible and useable for the international research community thereby enhancing the application of research results. CIHR strongly supports unrestricted open access, which promotes the principle of scientific openness, an essential element of science. The importance of open access has been recognized by other research funding agencies, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.K. Medical Research Council, The Wellcome Trust, and the Australian Research Council.

2. Policy Objective

The objective of this policy is to improve open access of research funded by CIHR, and to increase the diffusion of research results.

3. Guiding Principles

Following from CIHR's core values and its commitment to the highest scientific and ethical standards, the following principles guide CIHR in promoting open access to research outputs:

4. Application

This policy applies to all grants awarded January 1, 2008 and onward, which have received funding in whole or in part from CIHR. While not required, researchers holding grants that were awarded prior to January 1, 2008 are encouraged to adhere to the requirements of this policy.

5. Policy Statement

5.1 Guidance on Open Access to Research Outputs

5.1.1 Peer-reviewed Journal Publications

5.1.2 Publication-related Research Data

6. Monitoring and Adherence

7. Policy Review


Annex

Examples of research outputs and corresponding publicly accessible archive, repository or database
Peer-reviewed journal publications: Publicly accessible archive or repository
  1. Deposition of proteomics data

    Given that proteomics is a burgeoning field, standards for data storage and deposition are still in development. Therefore, CIHR-funded investigators that are generating proteomics data are encouraged to deposit their trace files in one of the three Open repositories. CIHR will follow the trends in this field and update this table as necessary.

Institutional Repositories at Canadian universities
Directory of Open Access Repositories (international)
Research data Public database or archive
Nucleic acid sequences GenBank
Gene expression data Gene Expression Omnibus
Structure data Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) Protein Data Bank
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) The Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Database
Molecular interaction data International Molecular Exchange Consortium (IMEx) partners
DNA and clinical data related to the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC). dbMHC
Data underlying scientific and medical publications Dryad Repository
Proteomics data3

Endnotes and references

  1. CIHR Grants and Awards Guide

  2. Responsible Conduct of Research

  3. Deposition of proteomics data

    Given that proteomics is a burgeoning field, standards for data storage and deposition are still in development. Therefore, CIHR-funded investigators that are generating proteomics data are encouraged to deposit their trace files in one of the three Open repositories. CIHR will follow the trends in this field and update this table as necessary.


For further information, please contact access@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

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