Advancing Open Scholarship (FAIR)
Related topics
CAUL Business, Research, Scholarly Communications
Open scholarship and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) scholarly practices support the efficient dissemination of knowledge to researchers, students, policy makers and the broader public, facilitate faster scientific discovery and problem solving, and underpin the integrity of research.
Open and FAIR scholarly practices are continually innovating. CAUL facilitates collaboration between libraries, funders, policy makers, publishers, and research communities to respond to the need for continual innovation.
The Advancing Open Scholarship program encompasses various initiatives, including advocacy work and projects designed to advance the open agenda through bodies of work with practical outcomes. The program builds on CAUL’s earlier FAIR, Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program.
Related Initiatives
The CAUL Consortium has negotiated several Read & Publish agreements. Find out more in the guide to Read & Publish Agreements Negotiated by CAUL.
On this Page
Strategic Engagement
The Program Director regularly engages with key stakeholders on topics related to Advancing Open Scholarship.
Selected publications and presentations are added here.
Connecting the Dots: 20+ Years of Open in Australia
This poster and accompanying web page were presented at the 15th Berlin Open Access Conference in September 2021. The poster provides an overview of progress on open access in Australia over the last two decades.
Current Projects
Libraries and Open Publishing Case Studies
Commencing July 2021 | Project Lead: Tracy Creagh (Queensland University of Technology)
This project will develop a series of case studies of university libraries’ open publishing initiatives and accompanying researcher case studies that demonstrate the value of these initiatives. The case studies will be helpful within and beyond the library sector to support advocacy work. They will also provide examples of open publishing practice from which others can learn.
FAIR and Open Non-Traditional Research Outputs
Commencing August 2021 | Project Lead: TBC
This exploratory project will investigate current academic library practice related to FAIR principles are applied to research outputs such as software and other NTROs (e.g. film, creative writing, website design), including areas where there are opportunities to improve or expand practice related to the application of the FAIR principles to NTROs. The project will also explore how the CARE principles should be applied to these outputs. The project will situate the role of the academic library in the broader Open Research landscape and explore how the library’s work relates to the work of other bodies both within and beyond the researcher’s institution. The project will also produce a framework that provides guidance for CAUL Member institutions about how to increase the proportion of NTROs by Australian university researchers that are appropriately described, archived, preserved and made accessible.
Open Research Toolkit
Ongoing | Project leads: Siân Woolcock (University of South Austrlia) for CAUL and Alison Matthews (Charles Sturt University) for ARMS
The ARMS/CAUL Open Research Working Group is developing an open research toolkit for use by universities to support open research.
Current Groups
The FAIR Steering Group was recently disbanded and replaced with the Australian Open Science Network. It is co-chaired by CAUL, Open Access Australasia and the ARDC. A link will be provided once the new Network has an online presence.
The FAIR Steering Group was established in 2014 to implement policy in line with the F.A.I.R. Statement endorsed by Universities Australia DVC(R)s.
Completed Projects
Roadmap to Plan S for Australia
This project was completed as part of the FAIR Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program
2019-2020 | Project lead: Dimity Flanagan (University of Melbourne)
This project undertook an analysis of the challenges and opportunities arising from Plan S for Australian researchers and universities. It developed high-level recommendations on how Australian universities should proceed to meet compliance obligations from 2021. The project report was delivered to the DVCsR Committee.
Intellectual Property Rights Retention in Scholarly Works in Australian Universities
This project was completed as part of the FAIR Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program
2019-2020 | Project lead: Fiona Bradley (University of New South Wales)
This project developed suggested wording for non-exclusive licenses in Australian universities’ intellectual policy documents, with the aims of improving rights retention for research publications, maximising the proportion of openly available research publications, and moving Australian universities towards compliance with Plan S.
Collection and Reporting of Article Processing Charges (APCs) Information
This project was completed as part of the FAIR Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program
2018-2019 | Project lead: Susan Lafferty (Australian Catholic University)
This project investigated the cost of APCs to Australian universities. It developed a methodology for estimating the Article Processing Charges (APCs) at a university, based on data from sources including Scopus, Web of Science and Unpaywall. The project team reviewed national and international approaches to collecting APC information and sought input from CAUL members and other stakeholders about possible strategies. The project team piloted the method in February 2019. As part of this pilot, data on publications produced by researchers at six local universities in 2017 were collated and analysed.
Read the paper Fair, Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge: The CAUL Collection and Reporting of APC Information Project (presented at IATUL 2019)
Retaining Rights to Research Publications
This project was completed as part of the FAIR Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program
2018 | Project lead: Frances O’Neil (Victoria University)
The project investigated the best mechanisms for Australian universities to retain non-exclusive rights to author manuscript versions of scholarly works. The project sought legal advice on the applicability of a UK-Scholarly Communications Licence (UK-SCL) or Harvard Model in Australia.
Final report will be made available shortly.
Review of Repository Infrastructure
This project was completed as part of the FAIR Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program
2018 | Project lead: Martin Borchert (University of New South Wales)
The project involved reviewing the current state of the Australian institutional research repository infrastructure in the current global context. The project report provides observations and recommendations on possible ways forward for the Australian repository infrastructure and management.
Read the Review of Repository Infrastructure Report.
Statement on Open Scholarship Review
This project was completed as part of the FAIR Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program
2019 | Project lead: Peter Green (Curtin University)
The project reviewed CAUL’s Statement on Open Scholarship (2015) and developed a new policy statement that outlines a commitment and associated actions to maximise the benefits of open and F.A.I.R. (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) scholarly practices.
Read CAUL’s Statement on Open Scholarship, which is the key output for this project.
Fair Use Advocacy
This project was part of the FAIR Affordable and Open Access to Knowledge program
2018 | Project lead: Catherine Clark (Curtin University)
This project was initially designed to advocate and build support for a fair use copyright legislative framework in Australia. Subsequently, program activities were reprioritised and aspects of this project were realigned into other projects, and the project was put on hold.
Past Events
2020 Virtual Events:
- International Perspectives: Developing a National Strategy for Open Research (12 November 2020)
- Developing an Overarching National Strategy for Open Research in Australia (23 November 2020)
Past Groups
CAUL Copyright Advisory Committee
Ceased operation in 2017
Since this group ceased operation, a CAUL Lead for Copyright Advocacy has been established.